Tue Feb 09 2010
By LISA NICELY
ARCHBOLD -- The journey through time has another stop at Sauder Village.
On Saturday, Aug. 22, the village will host a grand opening celebration of the Pioneer Settlement, located by the Natives & Newcomers exhibit.
"The Native & Newcomers was the first phase of our historic timeline and was finished in 2003," said Kim Krieger, PR/media relations for Sauder Village. "We wanted to continue with that walk through time. The Pioneer Settlement is the next phase."
The opening is to coincide with the 175th anniversary of the first settlers at Lauber Hill. Settlers arrived on Aug. 22, 1834.
The five-acre settlement will include the Lauber Hill settlement, log school house, Witmer-Roth home, Eicher cabin, jail, Peter Stuckey farm with wagon-making shop, Holdeman church and a new train stop for those who wish to ride the Erie Express train.
The addition has been five years in the making, with construction beginning in October 2008.
Sheri Lloyd of Napoleon portrays one of the women in the Lauber party in the 1834 home. She and others will talk about how the party made its way from Europe to northwest Ohio and how they lived.
Lloyd said she learned quite a few things herself when researching the Lauber party.
"One of the things I didn't realize is that they had to walk 450 miles to get on a boat just to get to the U.S.," she said.
Ann Lux, curator of the village, said information about the settlers came from many with personal connections.
"We've researched families that lived in the buildings and want to make the stories personal," she said. "People can connect with that and know their ancestors went through something similar."
Lux said the village looked at family letters, family Bibles, census records and other documents to learn about their lifestyles from 1834-1890.
Jeanette Smith, director of sales and marketing for the village, said several descendants of the early settlers to the area, such as the Lauber, Eicher and Stuckey families, have already visited the area and enjoyed seeing what the village has created.
Individuals working in the village also are enjoying the expansion.
Jami Nathan of West Unity portrays a member of the Jacob and Barbara Eicher home. She said she likes the addition to the village.
"I love it," she said. "It's great."
Andi Erbskorn, village curator of education, said there will be plenty of activities in the settlement for visitors to take part in during their visits.
"We're always looking for ways to get guests engaged," she said. "One of the projects we hope to do is candle dipping, which is definitely an act you'd do in the settlement."
According to the season, visitors may sort beans, use a yoke to get water, help build a wattle fence, help in the fields or write with an old-fashioned pencil or slate pencil at the school.
For the grand opening of the exhibit, there will be several special events in which guests can participate.
Folk singer and storyteller Bob Ford will provide music. Tom Lauber, author of The Laubers: A Journey of Faith, will hold a book signing from 2-3 p.m.
The day before the opening, there will be a lecture titled, "Coming to America: A Land of Opportunity," at 7:30 p.m. at the Sauder Heritage Inn. Steven Charter, head librarian, university archivist and assistant professor at the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University, will speak about the early 19th century immigrants to northwest Ohio.
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