I have this list of ideas for blog posts. It’s kind of a mish-mosh of things that occur to me at random times. Then, when it’s time to write a blog post, I look at the list and pick a topic.
Except today. Because while I had “Old World Wisconsin” on the list, this wasn’t the post I was going to write at all.
This place is one of my favorite spots in Wisconsin. It’s like time travel. There, I can see exactly what my third great-grandparents’ Norwegian farm might have looked like in the 1870s, and see the kind of schoolhouse their kids attended. I can take my almost-five-year-old daughter to Laura Ingalls Wilder Days, and watch her churn butter while wearing a sunbonnet. I can take her and her little brother to meet Father Christmas (which is waaaay cooler than visiting that creepy mall Santa).
But last night a tornado ripped through Old World Wisconsin. None of the people or animals were hurt, but the buildings and trees were heavily damaged (along with about 120 homes in nearby Eagle…it’s amazing that no one was killed). It’s a mess.
If you like Wisconsin, or you like history, or you like cool stuff, you can help by donating money to help repair and restore the damaged buildings. If that’s not your thing, consider donating to the Red Cross, who are among those helping out the folks down in Eagle. They could really use a hand.
Photo by newagecrap
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I had never heard of Old World Wisconsin until your post. It sounds like it was a wonderful place, much like our “Ohio Village” at the Ohio Historical Society was at one time. I’m sorry OWW was damaged. I hope they are able to get enough donations to make repairs. It’s sad to lose places like that.
Done. I donated. And incidentally, I’m blogging again.
Susan—THANK YOU for donating. I will think of you when we visit this summer.
And yay for returning to blogging! I think once you’ve started, it’s hard to give it up. Like crack.
It is kind of you to tap into your community to help with the relief effort, e.g., this post and the facebook photo. Yet another interesting aspect of blogging.
Just want to let you know that while perhaps over 1000 trees were damaged, the buildings themselves got away with minor damage. A roof ripped off, a cupola roof taken away, fortunately, all the historic buildings can have a broken window repaired or some siding replaced. The bulk of them were no where near those mind boggling winds and escaped unharmed. The two total losses were the drive shed by Caldwell Hall, which was a modern reproduction (they don’t make them like they used to) and the farmer’s market shed in the visitor center area, which was buried and taken down by the fallen trees. But, oh the trees, the landscape will be forever changed as you walk from your car to get your ticket. Thank you for your blog. Besides the donations, Old World Wisconsin can get your help by seeing you out there this year once they reopen. Come visit and visit often. Tell all your friends that they need to come see it this year. Thanks for your support.
Oh, you’ll definitely see me there a bunch this summer. I’m already planning a bunch of outings and inviting in-laws and stuff. The history lovers need to represent!
Part of the sense of time-travel was getting out of the car and finding yourself in that old forest. It felt like you’d been transported to Laura Ingalls’ Little House in the Big Woods. I can’t imagine it without the trees.
But I’m glad it wasn’t worse (for both OWW and the rest of Eagle). It could have been SO much worse.
This was one of our summer stops and it wasn’t until I went looking at the site for more info did I learn it was closed. Sad, just sad.