Grandpa Day
By Michael Paddock, Old World Wisconsin Facilitator
“Hey Henry! Glad to see that you and the kids made it again.” I said as I gave a mighty wave in his direction.
Henry comes each week to Old World Wisconsin with his grandkids. They check out different areas at the site, but he always tracks me down to say “Hi”.
“We visited Scandinavia today”. He said as the kids proceeded to tell me about their adventures with the sheep, dying wool, visiting the 1840’s Norwegian cabin and the schoolhouse.
“How was the school?” I asked. “I heard the teacher is pretty strict.”
“Oh no”, they replied. “She was very nice and showed us how to do our lessons on the slates using slate pencils. Do you know we are actually using rocks to write on rock when we use the slates? Pretty cool!” And of course I agreed.
Henry tells me he loves bringing his grandkids to OWW. They see different areas each week and get to connect with history, animals and nature. “Sure helps getting their eyes off their phones and we always seem to connect on something new”. He explained with a smile.
I asked Henry if he ever gets tired of seeing the same things.
“No way. There is always something new. In the spring, you are planting. You are cultivating in the summer with the fall comes the harvest and threshing. Of course, they are always cooking something different in the kitchens and the kids love saying ‘hi’ to their favorite animals.”
I have noticed that they always eat their picnic lunches under the same old oak tree in the “Life on the Farms” area.
“With my membership, it ends up being a cheap date”, he explained. “We look forward to it each week.”
“Will you be making butter or squeezing apple cider next week?” the kids asked.
“I don’t know yet. I guess it will have to be a surprise”. I replied with a grin.
As the happy group waved their goodbye, I could not help but wish every child had a Grandpa like Henry.
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