Iola youths took a step into the Wild West during the Bowlus Heritage Arts Camp on Monday morning.
This week campers will learn all about the western lifestyle from 8:30 a.m. to noon. On Monday students learned everything from how to mold a clay bowl to cooking beef jerky.
Various leaders from the community dedicated their time and knowledge to help with the camp.
“Do you know what this is?” Beth Toland asked a group of preschoolers while holding up a buffalo artifact.
The students shouted out answers to Toland with excitement.
Toland led the preschool students through the morning by making brands, sling shots and quizzing them on their buffalo knowledge.
The preschool students were at the Flewharty-Powell Annex all morning while the older students up to eighth grade were in the Bowlus.
Elyssa Jackson, Allen County Historical Society director, taught students how to weave baskets with yarn.
Throughout the morning the campers rotated between two different sessions. Those who chose the sewing section stayed in that category all morning. Campers brought in a pair of old jeans and made them into bandana skirts.
Traci Plumlee, a program leader, said there were about 60 campers Monday morning.
This morning students were to have seen a medicine man show. The show will perform again tonight on the square, free to the public.
Local students step back in time
