Guest Blogger: Nathan Allen - Historic Trades/Maintenance Manager
Wonder what tools were like in the 1830s? Curious about how they built the new Potter Shop in Prairietown? Nathan Allen, our historic trades manger will tell you a little more about what went into building Prairietown's new Potter Shop.
October is one of my favorite months. The contrasting mild days and chilly nights are invigorating, and the beauty of the fall foliage still takes my breath away. I also enjoy the foods that accompany this time of year – fresh apples and pumpkins in plentiful supply.
As an English teacher, it thrills me that Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley’s “the frost is on the punkin…” is routinely quoted this time of year. And as a teacher, my love of history and literature are combined in Conner Prairie’s October
Headless Horseman event: a tribute to one of the great pieces of American literature,
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This nineteenth century story of a haunted, headless rider on horseback has sent chills up the spines of Americans for generations.
If you’ve joined us in years past for The Headless Horseman event, you know what a fun family outing awaits you this month.
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It’s filled with storytelling, barn dancing, apple bobbing, and of course, the hay ride where you can catch a glimpse of the Headless Horseman on his October quest for …? (You decide what he’s after!) If your family has older children, the moonlight hay ride will spook them as thoroughly as any haunted house in town; if you have younger children, there are twilight hay rides where little ones can see what is happening around them.
Legend has it that if a rider (or riders aboard the hay wagon!) can outrun the Headless Horseman, he will no longer haunt you. Let’s hope that isn’t true, because the fun of Conner Prairie’s exciting October nighttime event will live on for years to come. Join us – if you dare!