Dec. 2014 Schedule of Interpretive Programming
Friday, Dec. 5 (3-4 p.m.) .) Mary’s Memory Trunk
Mary, dressed as a frontier woman, talks about traveling to the state of Arkansas from North Carolina in 1855. She will display and discuss the items that she brought with her from North Carolina, what they mean to her, and how she uses those items in her home.
Meeting place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
Saturday, Dec. 6 (9 a.m. – 12 p.m.) Victorian-Style Christmas Ornament Workshop
Nineteenth-century Christmas ornaments were handmade from natural items, cards, doilies, ribbons and lace. Make three different historically authentic Victorian style Christmas ornaments to help make your tree beautiful. Included are: Victorian icing ornaments, natural pearl shell ornaments made with shells collected from the White River, and gilded walnut and pecan ornaments made from nuts grown locally. (If you have enough time left at the end of the workshop, we hope you will make a fourth ornament for us to hang on our tree in the courthouse!) Advance reservations are required by 3 p.m. December 4th, 2014. This workshop is great for children, and especially nice for parents, grandparents, and children to do together. Contact the park for more information.
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: $7.50 per person
Saturday, Dec. 6 (2 – 3 p.m.) The Foods of Our Fathers
Explorers, pioneers, and Native Americans that settled in this area of the White River found an area rich in natural resources including wild game, native fruits and edible plants. Join a park interpreter to discover the richness that was found in the area and helped the settlers survive until their first crops came in.
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
Sunday, Dec. 7 (2 – 3 p.m.) Making Clay Christmas Ornaments for Kids
Join the park interpreter in the courthouse this afternoon to make easy and attractive clay ornaments for your Christmas decorating enjoyment. Be prepared to wait a few days to hang them up because these have to dry before you can use them. Come ready to get your hands a little sticky and don’t wear your best shirt! At the end of the program, you will have a beautiful ornament to take home and keep for years to come. This activity is geared to kids ages 7 – 14.
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
Friday, Dec. 12 (3-4 p.m.) Are You an Authentic 19th Century Farb?
Let’s face it, we all do our best to be as accurate as possible when we portray someone from an earlier time period. It’s difficult to be authentic when most of us don’t know the difference between cotton and a polyester/cotton blend, or we don’t have any idea when an item was first manufactured or invented. Join a park interpreter to test your skills in identifying items that did or did not exist during the American Civil War. We think you’ll be surprised.
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
December 13 (10 a.m. – 12 p.m.) Making Christmas Stockings Workshop
The stockings hung by the fire on Christmas Eve in the 1800s were the children’s regular socks. Today, we make fancy stockings to hang on the fireplace mantle for St. Nicholas to fill with presents or use as Christmas decorations. Join the park interpreter to make your own stocking out of felt, glitter, ribbons and many more decorations. This is a great workshop for the entire family
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: $5
Sunday, December 14 (2 – 3 p.m.) Civil War Medicine
An explanation of how Physicians, Yarb Doctors, and Granny Women treated patients with botanicals found at river’s edge during and after the Civil War. Medicinal principles and uses of common plants will be discussed.
Meeting Place: Courthouse – Admission: Free
Friday, December 19 (3 – 4 p.m.) Mary’s Memory Trunk
Mary, dressed as a frontier woman, talks about traveling to the state of Arkansas from North Carolina in 1855. She will display and discuss the items that she brought with her from North Carolina, what they mean to her, and how she uses those items in her home.
Meeting place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
Saturday, December 20 (10 a.m. – 11 a.m.) Children’s Story Hour
What better way for children of all ages to spend a chilly Saturday morning? Today’s story is “Christmas,” an excerpt from “Little House in the Big Woods” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the perfect day to learn about how Laura, Mary, Carrie and Maw and Paw spent Christmas in the Big Woods of Wisconsin in the early1870’s. How does this compare with Christmas in 2014?
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
Saturday, December 20 (2 – 3 p.m.) Myths, Superstitions & Old Wives Tales
Why in the world would anyone eat a roasted owl? Can you cure a sore throat using only a piece of string? Are spiders really bad luck? All of these and many more will be discussed. Hopefully, we’ll discover if there is any truth to the stories and legends.
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
Sunday, December 21 (2 – 3 p.m.) Making Clay Christmas Ornaments for Kids
Join the park interpreter in the courthouse this afternoon to make easy and attractive clay ornaments for your Christmas decorating enjoyment. Be prepared to wait a few days to hang them up because these have to dry before you can use them. Come ready to get your hands a little sticky and don’t wear your best shirt! At the end of the program, you will have a beautiful ornament to take home and keep for years to come. This activity is geared to kids ages 7 – 14. (This is the last chance before Christmas to make these.)
Meeting Place: Jacksonport Courthouse – Admission: Free
You may contact Vicky E. Schoeneweis, C.H.I., C.I.G., Park Interpreter, Jacksonport State Park,205 Avenue St.,Newport, AR 72112l Desk: 870-523-2143 ext. 240
