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Stroll back in time to discover the businesses and industries that once dotted the landscape of the Oswego area when the Little White School Museum offers “Oswego History Walk: Business and Industry.” The museum also plans a program for children on hummingbirds.
History tour
The walk, which is aimed at participants age 16 and older, will be offered twice, once on Sunday, July 18, and again Sunday, Aug. 15, a news release stated. Both walks will start at 2 p.m., with participants meeting at the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., Oswego. Both walks will cover the same route.
Led by Oswegoland Heritage Association board members Ted Clauser and Linda Heap Dean, and museum assistant Shawna Sullivan, the walks will trace the spaces and places that served the community, as participants learn about the people behind them. From livery stables to cigar factories to blacksmith shops, the tour will bring to light the community’s businesses of yesteryear. Are there any businesses from yesteryear still thriving today? Find out on these fascinating walks.
The walk will be held outdoors. Participants should be able to comfortably walk for about one hour and be prepared to be part of the conversation. Pre-registration at $5 per person is required and space is limited. To register, call the Oswegoland Park District at 630-554-1010 or visit www.oswegolandparkdistrict.org. When registering, reference Program 20633 for the July walk and Program 20634 for the August walk.
The Oswego history walks are presented by the Oswegoland Heritage Association in partnership with the Oswegoland Park District.
For more information, call the museum at 630-554-2999 or visit its website at littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.
Children’s nature program
As part of its month-long indoor and outdoor exhibit, “Pollinators on the Prairie: Little Helpers, Big Results,” the Little White School Museum will offer a special program aimed at youngster ages 8 to 12 years old, “All About Hummingbirds.”
The hour-long program begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 17, at the museum.
Can you spot a ruby-throated hummingbird? Do you know what they eat? Did you know they are powerful pollinators? Learn these fun facts and more as participants create their very own hummingbird feeders and nectar to attract these tiny, colorful birds to their yards.
Registration for this Oswegoland Park District program is $10 for youngsters who are park district residents and $17 for nonresidents. To register, call the park district at 630-554-1010 or visit www.oswegolandparkdistrict.org and reference the program number 20636.
Parents, participants and friends are then invited to extend their passion for pollinators before or after the program with a visit to the special “Pollinators on the Prairie” exhibit in the Little White School Museum’s Roger Matile Room and outdoors on the museum grounds, Heritage Park.
Indoors, enjoy exhibits of artifacts and information dealing with the pollinators, from bats to birds and bees that are vital to all kinds of growing plants. Outdoors, stroll past the posters along the Heritage Garden Path that tell the pollinators’ story and enjoy the varied flowering plants in the garden tended and maintained by the Hilltop Garden Club.
Museum hours
Regular museum hours are Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and Mondays from 4 to 9 p.m. The museum is closed to visitors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Admission is free, but donations are always gratefully accepted. Heritage Park and the outdoor portion of the pollinator exhibit is open like other park district facilities, from dawn to dusk.
The museum is a joint project of the Oswegoland Park District and the Oswegoland Heritage Association.