For a town that is stuck in the year 1836, Prairietown sure changes a lot! We are always adding and tweaking programs, games, and activities for you to enjoy. Be sure to
Rediscover Prairietown with us starting June 9.
As we rediscover Prairietown, we are also rediscovering character bios. With our restructured Store, we need youth to help guests unload wagons, weigh nails, and “purchase” clay marbles (they rolled hundreds of these marbles for you, so please enjoy). We delved into old files and found 2 youth characters that hadn’t been played since the 1990s. Sally Ann and young James Whitaker, grandchildren of the store owner, have gone through an age change, an accuracy realignment, and a general bio polish.
Anyone who has ever owned a silver necklace knows the real polishing happens when you wear it close to your skin. That’s how bios work, too. We are sticking some of our youth volunteers back in these roles to make Sally Ann and James live and breathe. Our interpretation has changed a lot since the 90s! Older youth take the lead teaching the younger youth, who in turn provide a fresh perspective to the roles.
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One enterprising 16-year-old has offered to spend the first part of the summer translating our store inventory into a kid-friendly format.
The Whitaker Store is not the only store to have youth in changing roles. Just two weeks ago, a couple of our young ladies in
1863 Civil War Journey played the brand-new Goldsmith sisters for the very first time. The nieces of Mr. Mayfield, store owner, are anxious to talk to you about how Morgan raided their town. Unlike the Whitaker children, the Goldsmith children have no interpretive “lore” yet: the informal traditions that go along with how the character is portrayed. Young “Alice” and “Mary” have already started putting their unique stamp on their characters. Some of the unwritten “extras” (like which sister is more refined, which is more the tomboy) will influence every youth who plays these roles for years to come.
Hope you can come help us discover and rediscover these great youth characters soon.
Put a face to our youth volunteers by visiting our Facebook page:
facebook.com/ConnerPrairieYouthVolunteers