Beaumont Heritage Society once again hosted our annual Camp Lookinback at the John Jay French Museum! Every year, Camp Lookinback aims to educate kids about the French family through activities and practices that the French family might have used. From July 9th-12th and July 16th-19th, the kids stepped into the past one day at a time! By the end of each week, the kids were immersed into what life was like for the French family.
On the first day, Stable-Spirit taught the kids about horse care with horses on property. They were taught about horses throughout history, horse care, and also learned how to lead a horse before getting to do it themselves! This was definitely a fan favorite of the kids! They also learned about cattle branding from Deputy Don Metts with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office along with a special roping demonstration.
Day two had the kids learning about what Christmas would have been like for the French family! They made wreaths and “buckskin” ornaments just like the French family might have made their own Christmas decorations! They also tried their hand at gift making by making yarn dolls! Kids were so excited about their yarn dolls that they all asked to bring them home early!
Day three was made possible by the Big Thicket Park Rangers. They captured the kids’ attention with their Skins and Skulls program, and also taught them all about the Food Web and how it would have been important to the French family! Cooking on an open flame with Elizabeth Schreck had the attendees enjoying pancakes cooked outside on a cast iron skillet!
The last day culminated with a tour the oldest fully restored home in Beaumont, the John Jay French Museum. Mary Nash and Becky Tabor with The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild taught the kids about how quilting was done, which turned out harder than they expected. Carol Weishampel was on hand to talk about leather! The kids practiced stamping leather and learned more about John Jay French’s leather practices.
Camp was chock full of fun, games, AND history. We had the best two weeks with our Camp Lookinback kiddos, and we can’t wait to do it again next year!
Happy summer from the John Jay French Museum! This season has been an extremely busy one and we are excited to report that tours are up due to vacationers and, of course, group tours. The Beaumont Heritage Society was organized, in part, for educational purposes. One way we fulfill this obligation is through our tours of the John Jay French and Chambers House museums throughout the year. If you haven’t been in a while, you need to gather your friends and family and come for a visit! Do you want to know why all those holes are punched into the tin on the French family pie safe, or even what a pie safe is? We have docents that can tell you and after Camp Lookinback 2015, we have a fair number of six to eleven year old children who can tell you, too!
