Editor’s note: Visit Andresen Nature Center next door to Heritage Canyon, from 10:00 a.m.-to-4:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Stimulating free activities for children include water bottle rocket launches; prairie information; taxidermy; 2000 new bees to watch!
Early American Crafters welcome the public to enter 11 buildings in Heritage Canyon, on Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7. The location is 515 N. 4th Street, Fulton, IL. Doors open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m. both days. Admission is $2 per a adult; $1 for school age children; no charge for pre-kindergarten tots.
Park downtown. On Saturday, the City of Fulton provides a free Trolley to and from the venue. Inside the canyon, people with mobility concerns may access golf cart transport by Tom Leslie.
On Saturday, begin in the Town Hall atop the hill. Christine Nichols’s quilts will be on display. There is a bathroom attached to this building.
Inside the 1860’s House on both days, Nancy Frondle will be cooking. Luci will bake and cook next door, in the Summer Kitchen. These buildings are the only authentic structures in the Canyon. They were removed board-by-board from the Don Temple farm in the Garden Plain, IL, area. Upstairs the house has a sleeping loft, but visitors do not ascend the steps. Beneath the floor is a recessed space dug into the ground. Used by Early American Crafters, this “hole” keeps items cool, following the example of early homesteaders.
Look for Chuck Arey in the Doctor’s Office on Saturday; appointments are unnecessary.
Jacklyn Hanson will perform songs published from the 1840s-to-1870s, using flute and piccolo. She will discuss music of those periods. Sit in the pews inside the Church as Hanson plays, from noon-to-4:00 p.m. on Friday and 10:00 a.m.-to-4:00 on Saturday.
Up the hill at the Log Cabin, Shanna Frondle will demonstrate vintage cleaning methods and prepare food over an open fire.
At the bottom of the canyon are three metal workers in the Blacksmith Shop: Michelle and Rick Medd and Gene Whistman.
Davenport, IA, wood carver John Stoltz, at right, will apply his skills inside the Iron Works. Using numerous wood species, he makes spoons, scoops, and spreaders; picks; whistles; ornaments; walking sticks and canes. Stoltz carves horn, antlers, and bone, too.
Sit in an old desk in the Schoolhouse with Schoolmarm Stephanie Vavra. Enjoy lessons and a pioneer toy demonstration.
Nearby, there will be an opportunity to stamp a block letter with Jess at the Print Shop. Pick it up after the ink dries.
Jill Krieder will tend the General Store part-time; the Ice Cream Parlor will be closed. Postmistress Jennifer Garden will be on duty.
For more enjoyment, climb the trails, cross the swinging bridge over a ravine, and walk across the covered bridge. Take photos of the buildings, apple orchard, millpond, and the Mississippi River across the road.
