So you think making soap is an obscure skill relegated to yesteryear.
Well, it’s coming back to life in Iola.
Starting July 5, Iola youngsters will have opportunities to learn how to make soap and cheese, punch patterns in tin and stitch a quilt. They also will get instruction on how kids their age made dolls to while away the boredom of crossing Kansas a century and a half ago in prairie schooners, as well as other crafts.
Their vehicle will be HAPPY, an acronym for Heritage Arts Pastime Projects for Youth, said Susan Raines, executive director of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
“The idea for HAPPY came from Lisa Wicoff, and then Traci Plumlee joined in,” Raines said. They are mothers of middle school students and “together they have created a wonderful program celebrating pioneer arts for children.”
Five trunks from the Kansas Historical Society were brought to Iola with artifacts representing different areas of Kansas history. The public may view the trunks’ contents from 1 to 4 p.m. starting next week when the summer camp program kicks off.
Monday, Raines and Plumlee were sorting through one trunk’s contents, with a hand from Plumlee’s daughter, Josie. They marveled at vivid photographs, tools made from bones, and even an early drum that Josie tapped to entertain.
“PARENTS received notice of this special summer day camp program celebrating the Kansas sesquicentennial in early May,” Raines said. “We want to remind them the deadline to sign up has been extended through Wednesday.”
“We planned for 60 students and still have room for another 20,” she said Monday.
Enrollment forms are available at the Bowlus office and Iola Public Library, one of the organizations partnering with the Bowlus to provide the unique summer day camp. Raines also may be contacted at the Bowlus Center, 365-4765, for more information.
Sessions for elementary and middle schools students will be July 5-8 and July 11-14.
“For the first time ever we are offering a pre-kindergarten program that will be taught by Beth Toland,” Allen County Community College early childhood instructor, Raines said. It will be in the library’s Flewharty Annex July 11-14 from 8 to 11:30 a.m.
Cost of the day camp is $20, Raines noted, with scholarships available for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
