Governor Bebb MetroPark’s Pioneer Life weekend event has recreated village, food samplings, candle making

Pioneer Village at Governor Bebb MetroPark is set up as a small village with historic cabins, and it simulates what guests would have experienced in the 1700s and 1800s in a pioneer village. So, visitors get to experience what that time would have been like.

“This is something people really enjoy. We want to keep providing these opportunities to engage with people that are dressed in historic clothing and doing things that Ohioans were doing 200 years ago, and keep those traditions alive,” Lavoie said.

Offering guests an immersive experience, people may explore Governor Bebb’s Pioneer Village, talk with interpreters in historic dress, sample pioneer cooking, make candles and learn lessons in the village schoolhouse.

“I would encourage people to explore the whole village and take in all there is to offer, because there is a lot of different activities that they can do,” said Lavoie.

There will be a number of demonstrations, such as woodworking, weaving and spinning. A chandler will be making candles and guests can experience candle-dipping.

The summer kitchen will be active. There will be cooking inside, and guests will have the opportunity to taste the cooking and sample an older recipe.

At the schoolhouse, the schoolmarm, or schoolmaster, will be there, and if guests are in time for a lesson that day, they will get to find out what it would have been like to be a student at that time.

Pioneer Life will also feature firearm demonstrations, farm animals and visits with a blacksmith. The family-friendly event will offer a variety of activities for children and adults.

Bebb was born in Okeana in 1802, and his childhood home was relocated to the park in the late 1950s. The Bebb cabin is one of seven historic buildings and a replica forge in Pioneer Village. A tavern, schoolhouse, covered bridge and other family dwellings were all relocated to the park between 1959-1992.

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