Elementary school students visited Windham Village Green earlier this month to learn about local history from Windham Historical Society’s education liaisons. Haley Pal / For Lakes Region Weekly
Windham third graders were in for a special treat earlier this month when they were taken on a field trip to the Windham Historical Society’s Village Green for a tour.
On Oct. 12 and 15, students descended on the Village Green, where they were met by the Historical Society’s education liaisons, Walter Lunt and Jason Farley. The students were guided through the property, where they learned about the six buildings now on the site, all of which are rich in history.
At the Old Town House Museum, the society’s headquarters, they were told about the history of Windham High School and the evolution of the Town House building that was used not only as the old Town Hall, but was also a classroom for some bygone Windham scholars.
At the Windham Center Library, otherwise known as the Windham Circulating Library, they learned this small structure was the very first library in town. When stopping at the Windham Center Library, the tour guides discussed the history of transportation and shared a bit about South Windham history. The blacksmith shop provided an opportunity to educate the children about the village blacksmith and the importance of his work, especially for towns like Windham that were heavily populated by farmers in need of a blacksmith’s wares for their livelihood. At The Village School, children were informed about what it was like to attend school in the 1890s when lessons included reading, recitation and cyphering.
The final building the children saw was the Old Grocery Store, where they were told about the occupation of a cobbler and about some of the things that may have been sold in a mercantile of the 1890s.
“Jason and I were impressed with the kids’ extensive knowledge of Windham’s history and how anxious they were to share what they knew,” Lunt said. “Several commented they were excited for the park to open.”
Lunt and Farley said they enjoy working with the schools to enrich young students with the history of our town. In the end, all agreed you can have a lot of fun with history.
Haley Pal can be contacted at haleypal@aol.com.
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