A Family Day to help teach kids about Highland County history will be held Saturday at the Highland House Museum where all of rooms have been decorated in various holiday themes.
Family Day will be held from 1-4 p.m. at the Highland County Historical Society’s headquarters and Carolyn Hastings, who is helping organize the event, said the idea is to get children involved in history.
“Part of the reason we’re doing it is because Highland County has a reason to be proud of its heritage,” Hastings said. “For instance, most people don’t know that we were very important in the westward movement. We want to teach people about that, and we’ll start with the kids.”
The day could turn into monthly meetings and activities would likely be determined by the kids, Hastings said.
“We’ve already had some feedback from the mothers of some home-schooled children. They said they’re looking for some activities for the winter months and hopefully we can provide,” Hastings said.
Kids attending Saturday’s Family Day will be asked to fill out a questionnaire then after are answers are reviewed the group will head across the street to the Presbyterian church for refreshments and to prepare cards and letters for veterans.
Hastings said some of the cards and letters will go to a veterans’ home in Iowa and that Walter Reed Hospital has also requested cards for the holidays.
The event is free to the public.
“The goal is to form a group specifically for them to learn the history of Highland County while having fun. This group will participate in hands-on activities to be determined, in part, by the children’s interests,” Highland House Director Vicki Knauff said. “There will be activities in which the group will accomplish a project meaningful to the community as well learning about Highland County history.”
Hastings said the group will be led by retired park ranger Jeff Boester and that in January participants will learn about a bucket brigade while cleaning out the museum’s document room.
The museum currently has extended hours for the holiday season. It is open from 1-5 p.m. on Fridays and 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 23. All the rooms are decorated for the holidays with a Christmas Through The Ages theme. Knauff said one room in decorated in a World War II theme, another is more modern featuring the Grinch, one has a pioneer theme, and there are several others.
The museum’s gift shop is featuring several gift items including copies of “The Hillsboro Story,” which Knauff said is an updated version of a former book by Elsie Ayres with more photos and narrative.
The museum is located at 151 E. Main St. in Hillsboro and can be reached at 937-393-3392.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or [email protected].
