Colonial Times Come Alive

LIVING HISTORY DAY: Annual Ogdensburg event immerses students in past
By MATT MCALLISTER
JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2011

OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg Free Academy seventh-grader Aidan M. Shea apologized to French minuteman George M. Cherepon for spilling gunpowder he was attempting to pour while rolling cartridges for a flintlock pistol Friday morning.

"Don't worry about neatness," said Mr. Cherepon, a retired teacher from Star Lake. "In battle, worrying about neatness will get you killed."

The gunpowder wasn't real, but as Aidan and a classmate, Conner A. Perry, joined Mr. Cherepon for a spirited "Vive le Roi!" — French for "Long live the King" — the spirit of the annual Fort La Presentation Living History Day, held this year at Lockwood Arena, seemed evident.

Living History Day is the culmination of a yearlong project for fourth- and seventh-grade students from the Heuvelton Central, Ogdensburg City and Madrid-Waddington Central school districts, according to Julie M. Madlin, a junior high social studies teacher at Heuvelton and chairwoman for Fort La Presentation's education committee. She said students studied Fort La Presentation and the French and Indian War.
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Fort La Presentation, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, was the site of the last battle of the French and Indian War, in 1760, and skirmishes between American and British forces during the War of 1812.

"It really makes life in Colonial times come alive," said Mary M. Rasmussen, a fourth-grade teacher at Heuvelton Central School, as her group joined Fort La Presentation President Barbara J. O'Keefe for Colonial-era games at another station. "It's all very hands-on, and certainly better than just talking about, reading or watching videos about the subject."

Chloe E.L. Combs, one of her students, listened intently to Mrs. O'Keefe while scribbling into a hand-sized notebook and taking pictures. She was taking notes for a writing assignment in which she would eventually write a first-person account from the point of view of her favorite Colonial-era character.

"I'm a real history buff," said Chloe, who was interested in Mrs. O'Keefe's wares — wooden checkers and bowling pins, handmade dolls and other relics.

More than a dozen stations Friday featured experiences ranging from period campfire cooking and 18th-century clothing to ropemaking, fur trading and tinsmithing.

"A lot of it is still in style," said Mason A. Knauf, another Heuvelton Central fourth-grader.

Ms. Madlin said that despite muddy conditions forcing the day inside Lockwood Arena, things couldn't have gone more smoothly.

"All things considered, the day was awesome," she said following a cannon-fire display outside. "A Colonial experience was provided here today for about 280 students."