I had taken Kyle’s car into the shop the other day because there was a couple of things we wanted looked at before he took it back to Canada. The mechanic was able to get it all fixed except the windows. The driver window goes down really well, but doesn’t go up so well. In most situations this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but Kyle said at the border, the customs people really don’t like it too well. So we were told that it was an easy fix, but we needed a part that the local salvage yard could help us out with. I’ve never visited a car salvage yard before, but I have gone to a tractor salvage yard, so I was thinking it’s about the same thing. I called ahead and they were able to find one of the parts that we needed and today I was planning on picking this piece up. I left a little early, because I knew that I would be driving past the Little Brown Church in the Vale, and it was a long time since I was there. This church is known for the song, “The Church in the Wildwood”. One of the books that I bought had some really cool information in it. A couple of the facts that stands out the most in the book for me was that from 1920 to mid 1930’s during the Depression, the church loaned money to area farmers to keep their family farms from foreclosure. Another thing that amazed me was that from 1934-1936, 1500 weddings were held. I wonder where all these people were from? It’s not like going to town was an easy task back then. Another thing was that in 1925, 27,000 visitors registered, 1926, 26,000 visitors registered, and in 1927, 30,000 visitors registered. About 30 years ago I was a bridesmaid in my friends wedding in this church, and one of our best friends got married a couple of years ago here also. It sure brought back some memories of those two weddings today when I was walking around the grounds. It was a nice stop.
The Little Brown Church in the Vale
After buying the books at the church, I started driving and saw a sign for a museum that was almost right beside it. I still had some extra time, so into the parking lot I drove. OK, I was expecting to have the museum only in this one building – but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The town was called Bradford, and it was the county seat before it was moved to another town. After the county seat moved, the town I guess just died off. I don’t have any idea how many buildings there were all set up as if it was the town before the people left, but it was really something to see. I only wish that I would have had more time to really take a look at what they had. I hurried through most of them because I was really only expecting one building, but I was very impressed on how much stuff and details that they had. I hope to go back again sometime when I can take more time.
What an unexpected surprise
Just some of the buildings at this museum
The General Store
The old schoolhouse
The rest of the day was spent with the kids packing and getting things organized. At the end of the day, I think everyone is pretty close to being ready for tomorrow. I still have some dress pants to hem for William and some food to pack for Kyle – and then just like that, they’ll be both gone by tomorrow night. Mariel even picked eggs for us tonight, and I’m thinking that Rion took a liking to her too. I found out these past two months, that it’s really nice to have a bunch of people just hanging out at the farm. It’s too bad that they’ll all be leaving when we’ll have some hay to bale in a couple of days. I’m wondering if this was planned?
Turning this New Jersey girl into a farm girl. Picking eggs.
More people to add to Rion's fan club
We spent the end of the night sitting around the camp fire visiting. It was so hot today, but tonight the weather really turned out nice. It was around 70 degrees tonight when we all headed into the house, and I hate to say this – but the house seemed a little cold when we walked into it.
Just hanging out and taking a break from packing