KIDS + FAMILIES

Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center hosts the annual Homestead Heritage Day Saturday, February 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Learn what life was like for early East Texas settlers and how they survived without modern day conveniences like refrigerators, gasoline-powered vehicles, or electricity. Visitors of all ages have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of demonstrations, seldom-seen crafts and games, sample old-fashioned foods, and enjoy many other 19th century activities.

Additionally, the Jones Park outdoor stages will showcase festive folk music. Festivities are featured in the green space at the front of the park and at the Redbud Hill Homestead. Hayrides will be offered from the playground parking lot to the park entrance and from the park entrance to the homestead from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Staff members and volunteers transform the Redbud Hill Homestead into a living, working settlement of the early 1800s.

This year’s Homestead Heritage Day highlights the activities that early Texas settlers enjoyed during their limited free time. Children of all ages can attempt oldfashioned games such as marbles, tabletop nine-pins, intricate metalwork puzzles, a corn cob toss, and much more. Other youth activities include making various crafts, washing clothes on a washboard, and churning butter.

Through captivating exhibits and demonstrations, the lifestyle of early settlers is recreated at Jones Park. Demonstrations include Old West-style shootouts, quilting, kitchen gardening, a petting zoo, and much more. Additionally, members of local Civil War re enactment groups offer a glimpse into the regimented lifestyle that often took place during the Civil War. Visitors can even try on period costumes and have their picture taken in a variety of settings.

Samples of cornbread from the bread oven, jerky from the smokehouse, and stick bread and hoecakes cooked over an open fire are available. Volunteers in the wood shop demonstrate how useful tools, furniture, and other items were fashioned out of wood, while volunteers in the blacksmith shop show off their metal working skills. Members of the Settler Life Working Group, a group of park volunteers with a special interest in homestead activities, demonstrate how wool and cotton were spun and then woven into fabric for clothing. Furthermore, Don Roe and other members of Roe’s Rangers demonstrate black powder weapons of all types including pistols and cannons.

Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center, a Harris County Precinct 4 facility under the leadership of Commissioner Jerry Eversole, is located at 20634 Kenswick Drive in Humble. All programs are free of charge and open to the public. Harris County Precinct 4 programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, sex, religion, national origin or physical ability.

For more information on the park or any of its programs, call (281) 446-8588 or visit the Jones Park web site at www.hcp4.net