- November 14, 2024
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Max Patterson climbed aboard a wagon to take a journey. A journey from city life to farm life, as it would have been more than 100 years ago.
The 13-month-old boy wasn't as impressed by the history, as he was about riding in the wagon pulled by a tractor, and being greeted by Tucker, the resident farm hound.
Tucker, the official hound in residence at the Florida Agricultural Museum, decided to check out the wagon full of people being taken to the Whidden-Clark Homestead. After a couple of laps around the wagon, and one leap over the benches into unsuspecting laps, Tucker hopped off at the final destination.
Everyone seemed to take the canine's ad-lib interaction with humor, but Tucker was seen on the end of a leash, for the remainder of the day. Something not typical for the shelter adopted dog, accustomed to having the run of the farm, as dogs of the era would have enjoyed.
It was very easy to get into the spirit of the event, and for a moment, forget it was 2016.
Susan Barry rocked on the porch of the homestead, weaving pine needles into baskets, with her grandsons, Braeden, Trevin, and Tucker at her feet, asking questions, and looking for some treats to eat.
On the backside of the house, 12-year-old Jazmine, washed clothes on a washboard, with water pumped from a temperamental hand pump.
“It takes a long time (to wash clothes on a washboard), and you can't ever get the stains out,” Jazmine said as she spread open the man's shirt she had been trying to get clean, but still bore a black stain.
Behind her, Ci Ci and James Lee Gunn of Ormond Beach, ground corn for chicken feed. James knew exactly what he was doing, he had been at the Florida Agricultural Museum before, on a school field trip.
The visit to Family Farm Day on Saturday, April 16, was a field trip for home schooled Zoey Birchard of Bunnell.
Rooster Morrell, a cow camp cowboy, in the 1870s stood by his wagon. Those who asked about his CS (Confederate States) belt buckle, were told about the importance of the cow camps during the War of Northern Aggression, and how their job was to provide beef for the Confederate soldiers.
Admiring his wagon was Brian Rumler, an 1835 Homesteader.
“We're Homesteaders from the Carolinas,” he said. “Land was too expensive there so we came here to give it a try.”
Visitors could make butter, and take radish seeds home to grow, at Lisa Gaskall table. Gaskall works with Florida Agriculture in the Classroom.
Kara Hoblick, community liaison for the Florida Agricultural Museum, admitted she was a bit nervous when she got up Saturday morning. The weather threatened to ruin the event. She even had some vendors who decided not to come, but they missed out, because the weather was perfect, and a good time was had by all – except maybe Tucker the dog.