Boone County Conservation District hosts holiday walk

By Kaila Olsen

Reporter

BELVIDERE – On Saturday, Dec. 5, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Boone County Conservation District hosted a ‘Holiday Walk’ for the public, free of charge, at the Roger D. Gustafson Nature Center, located at 603 N. Appleton Road in Belvidere.

Guests were able to stroll down an illuminated path. The path had two historical log cabins from the Civil War days. Each cabin was very small and in each cabin the conservation district taught guests about the traditions and history of Christmas during those times.

In the first log cabin, guests learned about the tradition surrounding the Christmas tree.

This tradition told of how people would only have their Christmas tree up for less about 24 hours during the holiday because the tree took up too much room in their small log cabins and was a huge fire hazard. People would put the tree up on Christmas morning,  and take the tree right back down that night or the next day.

Another tradition that the conservation district shared was that when decorating the tree, only the adults could decorate. The adults would only put one real glass ornament on the tree and it was in the shape of a pickle. The tradition with the pickle was that when the adults were done decorating the tree, the children could come in and look for the pickle. The first child to find the glass pickle would get an extra gift. The gifts in that day, though, were not as extravagant as they are now. The child who found the pickle would get the first choice of fruit at dinner time, or something in that order.

The second log cabin had tasty treats and recipes for their guests to try. One of the recipes was a Norwegian Fruit Soup. The conservation district also provided cookies.

The walk even included a Civil War Santa that people could visit with on the path. He told the kids stories of a time when they didn’t get electronics, or dolls as gifts, and how the children were just as happy to receive a good meal or a candy treat as a gift. He told guests of a time when people would put their shoes out by their door the night of Christmas Eve to receive their gifts.

Along the trail, people enjoyed fresh kettle corn, popped over an open fire.

When the chill became too much, people ventured into the nature center where they could enjoy some warm apple cider, listen to holiday music, and  make crafts.

Children loved making the crafts and searching the nature center to look for all of the wonders the center had to offer. One of the wonders included the pet turtle and snake in their cages.

Many people turned up for the event to jumpstart their holiday spirit.