Bayfield's future met its past recently when third-graders visited historic sites on a bus tour and stopped at the Pine River Valley Heritage Museum on Mill Street.
Along with their teachers, the children braved chilly, unpredictable May weather to learn the history of early pioneering families in our valley. At 8:30 a.m. on May 18, 110 students and six teachers arrived at the Bay House on the corner of the Buck Highway and Mill Street. Grace Sossaman greeted them. She lives in the home that the William Bay family occupied in 1880 and shared the family's history with the students and pointed out the big pine tree in the front yard.
Half of the kids took a bus tour of the area, while the other half walked a short distance on Mill Street to the museum. Once inside, Assistant Director Anne Schrier provided a short overview before the students explored the museum's four rooms. Volunteers were available to answer questions or help students search for items on their worksheets. The next group arrived 45 minutes later, swapping spots with the kids on the bus. Once they return to their classrooms, they shared the information they found for items old vs. new.
As always, their questions reflected their boundless curiosity. A student in the museum's one-room school asked why some of the desks had a hole near the top. He ventured to say it was for a cup holder. Now he knows it was to hold an ink bottle, and that led to other questions. One asked if they had a cafeteria. Schrier held up an old lunch box and said: "Whatever you or your mom packed for lunch that day was what you ate."
Schrier hopes the introduction to Bayfield's past will prompt them to return to search out more items and pique their curiosity of our pioneer history.
The museum officially opens Saturday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Regular summer hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, until the end of September.
On Opening Day, once visitors tour the museum and sign the guest book, they will be given a ticket for their choice of ice cream from Lydia's Sweet Treats. Her cart will be parked outside on Mill Street. The museum will be unveiling an exciting new display, which traces the treks taken by Bayfield's early pioneer families - many of whom remain in the valley. With pins in maps of Europe and the U.S., visitors can follow strings to retrace the steps of the early pioneers - and read expanded stories about them in a special new collection.
