"Is that all there is in the history area?"

"Only three tents? Weren't there more in the past?"

A commonly heard complaint at this summer's Heritage Fest concerned the vestigial nature of the historical area.

In the past, according to the educational guide Pioneer History Hands On Activities, written by Judith White and stored in the Ypsilanti Archives, the historical area held everything from a pioneer school (complete with "schoolhouse" built by some local theater folks), "Grandma's Trunk," filled with ole-timey items for kids to handle and ask about, and such historical games as "Graces" and horseshoes, in which passers-by could participate. The guide discusses a wealth of historical activities for volunteers.

According to White's guide, in the onetime pioneer school, kids could experience the mixed-grades classroom of years ago.

The guide's chapter for the school area even lists learning goals for visitors to the school. "Students should be able to: 1. List the subjects that were offered in a pioneer school. . . 2. Describe three games the pioneer children played at recess. 3. Tell how older children helped to teach younger children. 4. Discuss the recitation benches were used. 5. Tell about the responsibilities of the teacher and pupils, i.e., carry water, wood, clean school, etc. 6. Describe the types of materials children used in a pioneer school, i.e., slates and slate pencils, hornbooks, McGuffey Readers, etc."

The "materials" list includes hornbooks, a stool and dunce cap, willow switches, a handmade broom, a handbell, an oil lamp, Noah Webster spelling book, McGuffey Readers, a Bible, and more. Organizers had a clear vision of how they wanted to impart the experience of a pioneer classroom.

"Grandma's Trunk" was an exhibit of an old-time trunk filled with such objects as wooden toys and tools, a baby bonnet, homespun cloth, cooking items, moccasins, and other relics of pioneer life. Visitors could handle and chat about the items. White's guide lists questions for volunteers to ask so as to guide visitors into a deeper understanding of the objects' manufacture, use, and their original context in pioneer life.

In past Heritage Festivals, a historical games area included the elegant hoop-tossing game "Graces," which was popular for much of the 19th century. Other suggested games in White's guide include "Judge and Jury," "Hot Buttered Beans," and "Farmers and Mechanics." "Farmers and Mechanics" is a type of charades in which participants act out the motions of an occupation for others to guess. Some of the old-time jobs listed in the guide are now so obscure in the modern world as to be unguessable: cobbling, blacksmithing, hand-plowing.

According to White's plan, the historical area also included demonstration of open-fire cooking, a wagon encampment, an evening family square dance with folk music by longtime Ann Arbor musicians Gemini, a display of such tools as butter churns and wash tubs, and arts and crafts.

The guide is packed with over a hundred pages of pioneer memoirs, pictures of old implements and tools, guides for doing such old-time tasks as using a drop spindle for spinning, and more. The wealth of ideas and pictures in the guide is a good resource for anyone interested in reviving the "Heritage" portion of Heritage Fest.

Happily, there's a movement afoot this year to bring back this onetime richness of historical offerings described by Judith White, and all are welcome to contribute to this effort. There's a public meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. at Ypsilanti's Haab health building at 111 Huron Street* at which the public is welcome to contribute ideas or just listen to others' suggestions. This is the last meeting until March, so it's a good opportunity for you to get in on the ground floor, find out who the contact people are, and start planning your own role in the coming year's Heritage Fest.

*(Park and enter at the rear of the building).

Images from "Pioneer History Hands On Activities" courtesy Ypsilanti Archives.

"Tidbits" is published every Friday by AnnArbor.com.