Exploring the 21st annual Past Passed Here event in Chippewa Falls
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – While the 21st century is filled with so many advancements for society to enjoy, it’s easy to forget how things once were. In Chippewa Falls an event reminding us of our roots is back. First News at Nine’s Ellie Ulbright takes us to the 21st annual Past Passed Here.
This weekend, each step taken at Marshall Park in Chippewa Falls was a step further back through time, bringing people all the way to back to the late 1700s and early 1800s. Volunteer Marge Hebbring says, “We started it for it to be educational. In fact, the first people that I met that were doing this were all retired teachers who had degrees in history, you know, and so that they had an interest in teaching people about this era,”
From demonstrations of blacksmiths and weavers to trading, the past is passing through the Chippewa Valley with the help of the Chippewa County Historical Society. Event coordinator, Jim Schuh, says, “After this year, we’ve now had 13,200 grade school children come and spend a day in camp learning about the fur trade era and the lumbering era, which was so important in the Chippewa Valley,”
With the end of the school year approaching, Schuh says it’s a wonderful way for kids to experience what they have been studying all year, “It gives them an opportunity to come out and meet reenactors that can tell them what life was like 150 years ago and they do a lot of hands-on things, competitions and different skill things, sawing logs and doing other things that that they seem to really enjoy,”
And for one kid (Lucille Coonts) visiting the event, the games were what she enjoyed the most. She says learning about old school activities were very interesting, “We didn’t have that much good games like board games, so we had they had to make up the unusual games like with the paddle races,”
She explains one activity she enjoyed the most, “First you have to have a paddle and a cup and then you have to go on the wood and then under the wood and then have to go around the basket doing that same thing,”
The idea of learning history in an engaging and fun way is something that Schuh says makes them special, “The goal of the Chippewa County Historical Society is to share our rich history with people. And what better way than to have them come out and see what life Used To Be Like Here,”
In Chippewa Falls, Ellie Ulbricht, First News at Nine
Organizers say more than 1500 people attended the Past Passed Here event throughout this weekend.
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