Kids Summer Camp with focus on history& Colonial Crafts

History Camp at Bedminster's Historic Vanderveer House

The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster is proud to announce in conjunction with the Bedminster Township Recreation Department, the 2nd History Camp for children.

 

Journal Entry: Dear Mom & Dad... Here's what happened at History Camp Today Day 1 - Colonial House Tour & Bee Keeping Hello All, Today was the 1st day of History Camp at the JVH and we are off to a great start.  We met some new faces and reacquainted with some old friends. History Camp teacher John Philips gave the students a history lesson about the Jacobus Vanderveer House and its occupants over the years complete with a terrific Power Point slide show.    Then we were off to tour the house.  We inspected every room and learned about their uses.  We paid particular attention to the differences between the main house built in the 1700’s versus the 1800’s addition, and how the house evolved with changing ceiling heights and more intricate moldings and designs.  The upstairs bed chamber was a hit thanks to the exposed section of wall showing how the house was insulated during the 18th century—a mixture of mud, straw and manure.  Certainly not your modern day Tyvec or the “pink stuff”.  Yeah . . . we got a lot of material out of that!  After our tour, it was time to don our beautifully created period correct clothing made by Lady Ellen D. Ruck.  The kids were thrilled!  We had a snack and headed outdoors for a fabulous bee keeping demonstration by Beatrice “Bea” Tassot from Tassot Apiaries.  We were fortunate this year that the weather cooperated and Bea was able to bring a case of live bees, unlike last year when the weather was too warm. We learned so much about bee keeping and the bee’s importance in colonial farming.  Beatrice explained, how like so many other things during the early days in America, bees were brought from Europe.  We learned about the equipment needed for beekeeping, the types of bees and their function in the hive, how to mark and spot a queen bee and about their natural predators.  Bea showed us her husband’s grandfather’s antique bee skep and explained why the skep is no longer used today.  The skep became unsafe, time consuming and costly for bee keepers to use.  Often the bee’s natural predators would hide under the skep such as a snake or skunk making it unsafe for bee keepers, but to extract the honey from the skep, it had to be crushed in the process and new skeps had to be continually made.  We learned about harvesting and bee products, the bee’s importance in colonial life, and the challenges facing modern day bee keepers.  And then, we all enjoyed a smidgen of honey!  Enjoy the photos! p.s. Thank you to Caitlin Morris (Marthe’s daughter) for helping us out today at History Camp and to Brooks Betz for joining us! Happily submitted, Robin Ray, History Camp Coordinator Bedminster Twp Recreation Director

Day 1 Diary | Day 2 Diary | Day 3 Diary | Day 4 Diary |

History Camp at Bedminster's Historic Jacobus Vanderveer House

Dates: Session 1 - June 30 - July 3, 2009 1-4pm Session 2 - July 20 - July 24, 2009 1-4pm Ages: 9-12 & open to all students in the Somerset Hills area.
Session	Activities
Monday	Welcome, clothing/costume hand-out, History of of the Vanderveer/Knox house, “Bee Keeping and Colonial Farming” with Tassot Apiaries from Milford, New Jersey.  Discussion and processing.
Tuesday	“Basket Weaving” with Elisa Kessler Caporale - Children will learn about the history of colonial basket making, purposes, materials, etc. and will be making round reed baskets with multicolored reed finished, looped or braided trim.  Discussion and processing.
Wednesday	“The Farmers Household ”Colonial clothing, sewing craft projects. Discussion and processing.
Thursday	“Open Fire Cooking ” with Michele Dansak & Kathy Ormosi.  Plan to cook items over an open outdoor fire pit, either soup and a bread or fried dough, and also churn butter.  Children will be involved with the food prep that doesn’t actually involve being over the fire. (All necessary fire approvals have been satisfied with the township in addition to the location of the fire pit).  Clothing styles and their purposes will be discussed relative to children.  Discussion and processing.
Friday (2nd Session Only)	"Archeological Exploration" - with Ian Burrow of Hunter Research, one of New Jersey's most renowned archeological firms.

2009 Registration Form Details (For Download)