On Thursday May 14th three members of the Chestermere Historical Foundation, as part of the school visit program, presented to the grade 4 classes at Rainbow Creek Elementary. Studying early Canadian history is part of the curriculum and what better way to learn than to hear some stories, handle some artifacts and taste a bit of the past! Well, not really, but who gets to sample homemade butter these days?
Thanks to planning by teacher Chelsey Schubert, with Josh Pate and Colleen Nielsen, and help on the day from secretary Heather Levielle the artifacts were set up and three classes of children sat in rapt attention as Mrs. Kay Clarke began the story of a day in the life of a Chestermere area farm child ‘way back when’. What would you eat for breakfast? How do you make toast? Why do you gather eggs in a basket not a pail? How do you get to school and can you imagine nine grades in one classroom?
Many of the artifacts (thank you to United Way for funding) were used by farm families who did not have had electricity so it amazed the kids to think of heating the iron on a stove or lighting a kerosene lamp to go and milk the cows on a dark, cold winter morning.
In preparation for the butter making, Kay showed a portable cream separator. It is difficult for little ones to think of milk being in two parts, skim and cream, when what we see today is homogenized and only separates when the date on the box has long passed! She did a great job of showing how to milk the cow using her finger as a teat – the milking of the cow was a popular area for questions from why are they holding the cow’s tail in the picture to wherever would you get a cow in the first place and what would she cost!
Final question time brought up queries on how you know there are no chicks in those eggs you are collecting, to why don’t those nails in the shoe hurt the horse. The antique wool filled quilt was evocative for a number of children as they described seeing these at their grandparents and great grandparent’s homes, and some knew that quilts were sometimes made from old scraps. The artifacts clearly brought a connection from past to present and unlike the museum where you can’t touch, each of them got a chance to pick up the sadiron and spin the hand mixer. With even teachers and students taking a turn at the hand churn, and a few perspiring brows, there finally appeared a pound of fresh unsalted butter that was squeezed of its buttermilk and spread on crackers for all to enjoy.
As one youngster commented with a sigh, you had to make everything first, her realization of how much work life could be on a prairie farm. Yet another was inspired to try the butter making at home. Lots of big smiles from the kids and sincere thank you as we shook their hands in an old fashioned farewell hoping that this look at the past helped them understand our rural roots here in Chestermere.
If you are curious about Chestermere’s history, and struggled a bit with the questions in some recent Anchor articles, don’t miss the FREE presentation at the Chestermere Library on Tuesday June 9th at 6:30pm. CHF members Kay Clarke, Jen Peddlesden, Bill Peddlesden and Ray Blanchard will reprise their presentations made in March to the Chestermere Middle School students on ëWhat events over the past 100 years have made Chestermere the city it is today. Now you, like the CMS Grade sevens said, you can ëknow-it-all.í For information go to www.chestermerehistory.org
