By Debby Woodin
news@joplinglobe.com
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Visitors can see how life was in the 1800s on the farm and on the prairie when two area parks hold events this month.
George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond will present the annual Prairie Day celebration on Saturday, while Prairie State Park near Mindenmines has its Prairie Jubilee on Sept. 25.
“The whole purpose is to celebrate life on the farm here in the Southwest Missouri area while Carver was a child, so we’re talking 1860s and 1870s,” park ranger Diane Eilenstein said of the Carver event.
Carver, born a slave on the Moses Carver family farm during the Civil War, became a scientist and agriculture expert who developed many farm products and techniques, especially for peanuts.
Living history activities in the 1881 Moses Carver house will include making butter and lye soap, washing clothes on a washboard, dipping candles, chuck wagon and Dutch oven cooking, spinning wool, and work by a loom weaver. People also will demonstrate how to make rag rugs and crochet.
There will be a corn shucking, and corn meal will be made from the corn.
“A huge feature are our wagon rides,” said Eilenstein. Four wagons and teams will take visitors across the prairie, with storytellers on board to tell folk tales and legends and give information about Carver.
A cemetery walk and headstone rubbings will be offered in the family cemetery, where edible and medicinal prairie plants will be on display. Visitors may go on a guided walk through the tallgrass prairie to identify plants.
Music will be the entertainment on the main lawn by the visitors center, along with quilting, carving and nature demonstrations. Performances are scheduled by John Wilkins, an award-winning gospel blues singer; Bramble and Rose, a string band that performs Revolutionary War and Civil War songs; and Rippling Creek and the Flying Buzzards, a bluegrass band.
A quilting bee will be offered, demonstrating patterns and techniques for hand quilting and making tacked or tied quilts. The Missouri Department of Conservation will have an exhibit on fire on the prairie, explaining the positive effects. There also will be an exhibit by the Neosho National Fish Hatchery.
The Tri-State Woodcarvers Guild will demonstrate woodcarving. Civil War medicine, including amputation, will be demonstrated.
Members of the Missouri Archaeological Society’s southwest chapter will discuss how archaeology was important to establishment of the park.
Inside the visitors center, storyteller Bobby Norfolk will relate African-American stories, and John Anderson will perform as “Brother John.” Richard and Judy Young will tell Ozarks tall tales and legends.
Several exhibits will be found at the pond, including hands-on instructions for basket weaving, and prairie bird and mammal identification.
The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will go on as scheduled even if the day’s weather brings rain. In conjunction, Gem City Days will be held at nearby Diamond, with a parade and other family activities.
Prairie State Park
The Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas border will be the topic of the Prairie Jubilee this year, said Brian Miller, natural resource steward at Prairie State Park.
The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at the park in Barton County, between Mindenmines and Liberal. The event is expected to attract about 1,000.
“This year the focus is on the Civil War,” Miller said, noting that the 150th anniversary of the start of the war is next year. “This is one of the first events that is going to be related to the Civil War for state parks.”
Living history interpreters will be at the visitors center to talk about life on the border during the war.
“There is going to be a living history loop; there will be people stationed along the loop from different time periods,” Miller said.
There will be a prairie chicken workshop in the morning and music by a Native American flute player.
The event is held every two years.
General admission to the park is free. People who want to camp out on the prairie the night before may do so by registering with the park at 417-843-6711. The fee is $6 and includes a bison roast meal on Friday night, Sept. 24.
Park locations
George Washington Carver National Monument is six miles south of Route FF (East 32nd Street) on Carver Road near Diamond. Prairie State Park is off Missouri Highway 43, north of Joplin, at 128 NW 150th Lane, Mindenmines.
