Open House

Author Terry Swanson and illustrator Peggy Stern introduce their new book, Grasshoppers in My Bed, a historical fiction based on the journals of Lillie Belle Gibbs, a Minnesota frontier farm girl.

Compete with family and friends to to see who can scrub and hang out laundry faster. Frontier chores were never this fun! Discover why families were so pleased when washing machines were invented.

Mark Labine will discuss his research into the Little Rapids fur trade post on the Minnesota River near present-day Carver. Mark is a descendant of early voyageurs and fur traders.

Try your hand at throwing horseshoes – maybe you’ll get a ringer! Learn the rules and strategies of this ever popular, centuries-old game. Horseshoes will be provided.

This mysterious mechanical toy originated in Appalachia. Make one to take home using basic hand tools and see if your friends can guess how it works! Adult supervision needed for children.

Step back in time and imagine what it was like for students long ago. Try writing on parchment paper with a quill pen dipped in ink. Then tour the historic Gideon and Agnes Pond House.