Pupils learn how settlers worked and played

The day was in honor of Ohio's 200th birthday.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- Pupils at Dobbins Elementary School woke up Friday morning to a world filled with modern conveniences, but by noon they had been taken back to a time of log cabins, no electricity and games much simpler than those played with joysticks on computer screens.
Kindergartners through fourth-graders participated in an annual Fun Day, which focused on Ohio's 200th birthday. The schoolyard was dedicated to life from the early 1800s, including games such as cat's cradle, horseshoes, jackstraws, tug-of-war and a yo-yo demonstration.
"We want the kids to have a feeling for what life would have been like for them 200 years ago, right about the time Ohio was becoming a state," said Principal Susan Sause.
Just like life in the early 1800s, the celebration and demonstrations were not all fun and games. The children took part in building a log cabin from wooden planks.
Fashion statement
Salem resident Brian Egli appeared several generations behind the times dressed in black buckle shoes, baggy cotton pants, a white shirt, white vest and neck scarf.
Egli also brought the building supplies and tools that would have been common in the area during the 1800s. He explained to the pupils the needs of early Ohioans -- to buy and clear land, plant fruit trees and build a suitable log cabin in which to live.
With a large ax and much to the delight of most of his male spectators, Egli demonstrated how trees were chopped down and shaped without power tools to make the cabins. Egli also stressed how important it was for families to work together in building the cabins. Women, he said, worked alongside the men in the building process, and men helped in household tasks.
According to Egli, it took between 40 and 60 trees to make one log cabin. Builders, once the trees had been cut, could put a cabin together in one day with the help of neighbors.
After the demonstration and lecture on tools, the youngsters helped Egli stack precut wooden pieces. The pupils had the base of their cabin together in minutes.
jgoodwin@vindy.com