Annual Event Goes 'Back To the Days'
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Musicians played, puppet shows were performed every hour, the blacksmith worked in his shop and Benjamin Franklin made a return trip.
Back to the Days was Saturday and Sunday. School Day was Friday, with more than 900 students experiencing the 18th-century life first hand.
According to Back to the Days Web site www.backtothedays.com, the first event was held in 1990 at Lucerne Park on Park Avenue in Warsaw. Dave Taylor, commander of the Virginia Navy re-enactor group, was the event coordinator. The event was based primarily on the military with a supporting cast of civilian re-enactors. The Kosciusko County Council on Aging was the sponsor of the event.
In 2000, the Council on Aging decided not to sponsor the event and a group of interested people took on the task of coordinating it. The group incorporated Back to the Days of Kosciuszko as a not-for-profit corporation with the state of Indiana in July that year. In September 2005, the organization was granted 501(c)(3) status by the IRS.
Once an hour over the weekend, a traditional "Punch and Judy" puppet show was performed. Bill Boudreau, Michigan, introduced the show, while his son, Jameson, 25, of Chicago, put on the show solo. Bill said Jameson has done the show since he was 9 years old.
The father and son have performed at "a lot of historical venues, done several Dickens festivals, some indoor craft shows," Bill said.
It is the traditional show, he said, meaning Punch is a violent character, but in a slapstick kind of way.[[In-content Ad]]"His name was actually Punch before the verb came into use," Bill said.
The earliest account of the puppet show that evolved into "Punch and Judy" was recorded May 9, 1662, performed by Italian puppeteer Signor Bologna, in Covent Garden, England. Then, according to information provided by Bill, Punch was known as Punchinello and most likely was a marionette. Judy, originally named Joan, and the baby appeared in Punch's life sometime after 1688.
In 1828, Bill said, actual drawings of Punch and scripts were written down. Before that, they had been passed down from one puppeteer to the next.
The Boudreaus have performed "Punch & Judy" at Back to the Days for the past five years.
Along another path at the event was Maynard Wade, Warsaw, playing the Appalachian Mountain dulcimer, as opposed to the Hammer dulcimer.
"They've been around quite awhile," White said.
Also in his tent, Wade had a duplicate of the Tennessee Music Box, a Canjo, more dulcimers and hand-carved toy guns. A Canjo is made with one coffee can, one string and a piece of wood.
Wade said he's been playing the dulcimer for 15 years or longer, and building them for about 20 years. He's built around 400. A carpenter all his life, Wade said, he likes to see what sounds he gets out of them. Each one is different.
While most people want a dulcimer made out of walnut, Wade said, the sassafras sounds best to him.
Wade has participated in Back to the Days for the past five or six years, he said. He plays folk music, and belongs to the Northeast Indiana Folk Music & Instrument Gathering in Shipshewana. The group meets once a month and has about 300 members. He also plays with an offshoot of that group, the Shipshewana Dulcimer Society.
"It's a good thing. Good entertainment. Nothing loud there, nothing amplified. All acoustical," Wade said.
Charles Molenda, from Carpentersville, Ill., returned this year as Benjamin Franklin. He's portrayed and studied Franklin for almost 25 years.
Molenda said he wants people to know about Franklin's life. "I want them to know what he accomplished and what they can accomplish," he said. He wants them to know about the Revolutionary War and what Franklin fought for during that time.
If Franklin were alive today, Molenda said, Franklin would ask, "What have you done to my country? Those who would give up a little liberty to obtain security end up with neither."
Americans today are allowing government to take and run their lives. The War of Independence, he said, was fought so we could run our own lives.
The problem with the country today, Molenda said Franklin would say, is that the U.S. Constitution isn't being followed and people don't voice their opinions at the ballot box. A good turn out at election time is still less than 50 percent.
Americans have the right to change their country every two years with the presidential and senatorial elections.
"If you don't vote, it'll never change," Molenda said.
Besides being a prominent statesman in the early days of the United States, Franklin also was an inventor.
Molenda said Franklin made more than 200 inventions, with the first one being at age 6. Franklin tied two boards to his feet to swim better, and swim fins were made.
The last of Franklin's inventions were bifocals. However, Molenda said, Franklin wrote many scientific articles up until his death, dictating them to another.
Molenda said people often ask him about the kite experiment. "It's so minor of an incident, but it's one everyone relates to," he said.
To become Franklin, Molenda said, he reads, reads, reads. He's done a lot of research over the past 25 years.
"Everything I tell you is based on three points of fact," Molenda said. He makes sure he can quote three different sources for everything he says.
For more information about Molenda, and his recommended reading list about Franklin and his time period, visit online at www.bfranklin.net
Slightly down the way from Molenda was Connie Henry, Warsaw, displaying paper making. She is a member of the Society For Creative Anachronism.
"I like to do a lot of different things," Henry said. One day, she said, she decided paper making was neat so she got into it and learned how to do it.
There's two different styles. Henry was showing the European style, but there's also the Japanese style. However, the Japanese style is more complicated, she said.
"Paper is anything you beat to a pulp, disperse in water and form into shape using a mold and deckle," she said.
The product is put on a sheet of cloth, pressed overnight and hung out to dry. They used to smooth it out with a rock, she said.
Henry also makes beads and does stained glass. She is a member of the Shire of Dragon Vale.
Other happenings at Back to the Days included the blacksmith shop, church services, crafts, Anderson's Artillery and Thistle Mountain Dulcimers. Displays and food also were available.
The 2009 Back to the Days of Kosciuszko will be Sept. 26-27. Back to The Days honors the memory of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, an American Revolutionary war hero.
Musicians played, puppet shows were performed every hour, the blacksmith worked in his shop and Benjamin Franklin made a return trip.
Back to the Days was Saturday and Sunday. School Day was Friday, with more than 900 students experiencing the 18th-century life first hand.
According to Back to the Days Web site www.backtothedays.com, the first event was held in 1990 at Lucerne Park on Park Avenue in Warsaw. Dave Taylor, commander of the Virginia Navy re-enactor group, was the event coordinator. The event was based primarily on the military with a supporting cast of civilian re-enactors. The Kosciusko County Council on Aging was the sponsor of the event.
In 2000, the Council on Aging decided not to sponsor the event and a group of interested people took on the task of coordinating it. The group incorporated Back to the Days of Kosciuszko as a not-for-profit corporation with the state of Indiana in July that year. In September 2005, the organization was granted 501(c)(3) status by the IRS.
Once an hour over the weekend, a traditional "Punch and Judy" puppet show was performed. Bill Boudreau, Michigan, introduced the show, while his son, Jameson, 25, of Chicago, put on the show solo. Bill said Jameson has done the show since he was 9 years old.
The father and son have performed at "a lot of historical venues, done several Dickens festivals, some indoor craft shows," Bill said.
It is the traditional show, he said, meaning Punch is a violent character, but in a slapstick kind of way.[[In-content Ad]]"His name was actually Punch before the verb came into use," Bill said.
The earliest account of the puppet show that evolved into "Punch and Judy" was recorded May 9, 1662, performed by Italian puppeteer Signor Bologna, in Covent Garden, England. Then, according to information provided by Bill, Punch was known as Punchinello and most likely was a marionette. Judy, originally named Joan, and the baby appeared in Punch's life sometime after 1688.
In 1828, Bill said, actual drawings of Punch and scripts were written down. Before that, they had been passed down from one puppeteer to the next.
The Boudreaus have performed "Punch & Judy" at Back to the Days for the past five years.
Along another path at the event was Maynard Wade, Warsaw, playing the Appalachian Mountain dulcimer, as opposed to the Hammer dulcimer.
"They've been around quite awhile," White said.
Also in his tent, Wade had a duplicate of the Tennessee Music Box, a Canjo, more dulcimers and hand-carved toy guns. A Canjo is made with one coffee can, one string and a piece of wood.
Wade said he's been playing the dulcimer for 15 years or longer, and building them for about 20 years. He's built around 400. A carpenter all his life, Wade said, he likes to see what sounds he gets out of them. Each one is different.
While most people want a dulcimer made out of walnut, Wade said, the sassafras sounds best to him.
Wade has participated in Back to the Days for the past five or six years, he said. He plays folk music, and belongs to the Northeast Indiana Folk Music & Instrument Gathering in Shipshewana. The group meets once a month and has about 300 members. He also plays with an offshoot of that group, the Shipshewana Dulcimer Society.
"It's a good thing. Good entertainment. Nothing loud there, nothing amplified. All acoustical," Wade said.
Charles Molenda, from Carpentersville, Ill., returned this year as Benjamin Franklin. He's portrayed and studied Franklin for almost 25 years.
Molenda said he wants people to know about Franklin's life. "I want them to know what he accomplished and what they can accomplish," he said. He wants them to know about the Revolutionary War and what Franklin fought for during that time.
If Franklin were alive today, Molenda said, Franklin would ask, "What have you done to my country? Those who would give up a little liberty to obtain security end up with neither."
Americans today are allowing government to take and run their lives. The War of Independence, he said, was fought so we could run our own lives.
The problem with the country today, Molenda said Franklin would say, is that the U.S. Constitution isn't being followed and people don't voice their opinions at the ballot box. A good turn out at election time is still less than 50 percent.
Americans have the right to change their country every two years with the presidential and senatorial elections.
"If you don't vote, it'll never change," Molenda said.
Besides being a prominent statesman in the early days of the United States, Franklin also was an inventor.
Molenda said Franklin made more than 200 inventions, with the first one being at age 6. Franklin tied two boards to his feet to swim better, and swim fins were made.
The last of Franklin's inventions were bifocals. However, Molenda said, Franklin wrote many scientific articles up until his death, dictating them to another.
Molenda said people often ask him about the kite experiment. "It's so minor of an incident, but it's one everyone relates to," he said.
To become Franklin, Molenda said, he reads, reads, reads. He's done a lot of research over the past 25 years.
"Everything I tell you is based on three points of fact," Molenda said. He makes sure he can quote three different sources for everything he says.
For more information about Molenda, and his recommended reading list about Franklin and his time period, visit online at www.bfranklin.net
Slightly down the way from Molenda was Connie Henry, Warsaw, displaying paper making. She is a member of the Society For Creative Anachronism.
"I like to do a lot of different things," Henry said. One day, she said, she decided paper making was neat so she got into it and learned how to do it.
There's two different styles. Henry was showing the European style, but there's also the Japanese style. However, the Japanese style is more complicated, she said.
"Paper is anything you beat to a pulp, disperse in water and form into shape using a mold and deckle," she said.
The product is put on a sheet of cloth, pressed overnight and hung out to dry. They used to smooth it out with a rock, she said.
Henry also makes beads and does stained glass. She is a member of the Shire of Dragon Vale.
Other happenings at Back to the Days included the blacksmith shop, church services, crafts, Anderson's Artillery and Thistle Mountain Dulcimers. Displays and food also were available.
The 2009 Back to the Days of Kosciuszko will be Sept. 26-27. Back to The Days honors the memory of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, an American Revolutionary war hero.
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