WESTFIELD — On Sunday, June 1, from 12-4 p.m., the public is invited to visit the Dewey House on 87 S. Maple St., and get a taste of what life was like in the 1700s in Westfield. Tours of Dewey House are included, and admission is free.
“We will be playing games such as corn hole, jacks, cat’s cradle, braiding a rag rug, weaving on a wooden loom, carding wool, spinning with a drop spindle, designing a patchwork with paper and making butter,” said docent Diane Piper. There will also be ice cream and lemonade.
She said during Family Day, docents are stationed throughout the Dewey House and outside, making period toys and crafts. For example, docent Denis Picard will be making baskets, Joanne Picard will be doing needlework, and Westfield River Elementary third-grade teacher Jennifer Thielen and her class will be outside, teaching kids to make butter.
The Dewey House is only open to the general public two days a year. However, during the year, private tours do take place, chief among them annual visits from third graders throughout the city who are studying colonial times.
During a visit on Friday, May 16 by Joanne Hewins’ third grade class from Southampton Road Elementary School, docent Sylvia Abar was at the kitchen hearth talking to students about making candles, carrying water buckets with yokes and cooking without modern-day appliances.
Upstairs docents Marti Ochs and Picard were talking about sleeping in bedrooms with no heat and having to make their own clothes on a loom. At each station, the children were able to get hands-on, at the loom, with an old-fashioned apple peeler and playing with old-fashioned toys with no batteries.
Parent chaperone Glenda Schuster said Friday was her first time visiting the Dewey House. “I think it’s a great learning experience for the kids, especially in today’s world with all the technology. It’s important to learn how things are made,” she said.
Southampton Road math interventionist Kaitlin Cote, who accompanied the class, said she still remembers when she visited the Dewey House as a third grader herself at Southampton Road School.
“When students come through, I always tell them to come back with their parents on Family Day,” Abar said. She said when they do, the third graders are so excited to show their families, they start giving the tour themselves. “It’s really nice,” she added.
