The Swedish heritage of central Iowa will come alive at a central Iowa county park today. Bells Mill Park in Stratford will observe Settlers Day with an afternoon and evening of games, tours and entertainment. Kelly Haman, with the Hamilton County Conservation Department, says there will be old-school games for kids.
They’ll bob for apples, play horseshoes and compete in sack races as well as take hay rack rides through the park and into the old cemetery. Haman says there will also be guided tours of the old grist mill, the log cabin and an old schoolhouse.
Visitors will learn in hands-on demonstrations things like making cream and shelling corn. A fundraising dinner will be held at 5 P.M. to help with park improvements. There’s a pie auction at 6:30 and a program on “Bats: Myth versus Reality” at 9 P.M. by a county bat expert.
Learn more at: www.mycountyparks.com.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City