We are so thrilled to be moving to Cottage Grove this Spring and taking up residence in the historic Dr. Snapp House on River Road!
It’s exciting to be embraced by such a welcoming community. Cottage Grove is very alive with history and has an active historical society and civic pride. The Snapp House is such an interesting and unique place. I’m really looking forward to getting used to the new location. There is an outside covered picnic table area and the river is just a few steps away. We are hoping to put in a raised garden bed this Spring so the summer camp kids can have fun planting, tending, and picking some yummy things.
This new space has a sink but no running water, so we will be fetching water from a hose outside. I wish we had one of those old fashioned hand pumps the kids could use to pump water into their buckets. That would be more authentic, but we will make do with what we have for now.
Our last program at the Hunton farm will be on April 27th, 2019, and then the moving process will begin. I have to admit I am sad to be leaving such a serene and picturesque place, but I am so hopeful about our new direction.
Cottage Grove especially makes sense for us since our namesake is Opal Whiteley, the pioneer girl who wrote The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, which are her published childhood journals. She and I share a common ancestor, as you know, Daniel Boone!
We are also thrilled to be putting on the kids zone at the Bohemia Mining Days Festival this year, which will be basically moving our Living History Festival to this one and combining energies. I look forward to cleaning out our closets and making a fresh start in a new home. This time we will be in a house and not a barn, so hopefully we don’t have to deal with mice and wasps in our space!
Come visit us at the festival or at one of our programs at the new location!
Karen Rainsong
