Learning About The Ole Timey Way of Life Through The Pioneer Village

The past two days have given Pathfinders the chance to step back in time. The Pioneer Village, sponsored by the Carolina Conference, opened its gates for Pathfinders to learn the “ole timey” way of life through hands-on honors and activities.

Some Pathfinders chose to earn the Dutch Oven honor. Groups spent the next 2 ½ hours preparing and cooking apple spice cake, cherry crisp cobbler, potatoes, yellow squash, and stuffing casserole. They cut and prepped all the ingredients, placed the Dutch ovens on the fire, and put the coals on the lid to cook. Ethan Otis, 5th grader in the Collegedale Club (Tennessee), said “I learned how they stack pots and keep the coals hot.” Chase Sabo, also a 5th grader from Collegedale said, “I learned they put circles of coals on the bottom and also on the top.”

In the Soapcraft honor Pathfinders were given two bars of soap for the activity part of the honor. One bar they decorated and the other one they carved into an object.

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For the Leathercraft honor Pathfinders had the option of making a leather keychain or bookmark. Connor Mundall, 6th grader from the Bowman Hills Club (Tennessee) said, "It was really fun to do the stamping, even though it was a bit chaotic."

A portion of the Herbs honor was taught. Pathfinders made a potpourri bag using wood chips and spices. To finish the honor they will need to grow herbs at home and cook something using herbs, among other things.

Teagan Pennell, a 7th grader also from Bowman Hills, took the Candlemaking Honor. In it, Pathfinders made a fragrance candle to keep. Teagan said, "It was super fun but you have to be especially careful to not get burned [by the wax]!"

In this day and age many do not know how to sew. The Pioneer Village offered the Basic Sewing honor. Pathfinders had the choice of making a pencil bag or a drawstring bag. They learned out to use a sewing machine and also how to hand sew.

What would this area be without offering the Pioneering honor. Pathfinders first absorbed information shared by one of the Pioneers in the village and then were released to do some of the activities within the village that would fulfill most of the requirements.

Other activities within the village, some that included requirements for the Pioneering honor, that Pathfinders could rotate through included churning butter, knot tying, shelling corn (removing the dried kernels from the cob), trying their skills using a crosscut saw, ax throwing, woodcraft, checkers, washing clothes with a washboard, getting water by using a pump, and playing horseshoes.

While not officially part of the Pioneer Village, both Blacksmithing and Pewter Casting were located next door and fit the pioneer theme.

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For the Blacksmithing honor Pathfinders made two projects they got to keep. One item was making an iron hook and the other reshaping a piece of iron into a cross. Henry Davis, one of the coordinators for the Blacksmithing honor, said the piece of scrap used to make the cross is worth about 3 cents. “Most people would just throw it away. We make it a thing of beauty as an object lesson of what God wants to do with you and I. He doesn’t care about your past. He wants you to spend eternity with Him. He paid the penalty for your sins on the cross.”

In the basic Pewter Casting honor Pathfinders made an open-faced mold and casted it. They could choose from several molds, including Pathfinder related ones, a cross, animal heads, and more.

— by Sherrie Williams