Annual Prairie Fest returns Sept. 23 to historic Corron Farm
Campton Township will host its annual Prairie Fest from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, at historic Corron Farm, 7N761 Corron Road, Campton Hills. It will be held rain or shine. Admission is free.
The event will feature tours of the 1850s brick Corron home from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and tractor-pulled wagon tours of the savanna, wetlands, and prairie.
The "Old Brick" is a brick Greek revival home built by Robert C. Corron, one of Campton Township's earliest settlers. Restored farm equipment, Civil War letters, early photos, sheet music, Native American artifacts, and vintage postcards will be on display.
The Fox Valley Mixers and Bachelors & Bachelorettes square dance clubs will offer square dancing demonstrations from 2 to 4 p.m. Members of the 1st Brigade Illinois Volunteers will be at the festival. Children can stop by the crafts corner, play games, or feed the goats. In addition to refreshments, there will be food items available for purchase. There will be handcrafted jewelry, local cheese, and honey for sale.
Copies of the award-winning book "An Illustrated History of Campton Township" by Adam Gibbons, president of Preservation Partners of Fox Valley, will be available for purchase.
Corron Farm Preservation Society members are excited to share that the 1875 dairy barn rehabilitation and roofing project is nearing completion. The interior stabilization of the barn by Trillium Dell Timberworks of Knoxville was completed this year, and the new metal roof has been installed. This work will allow the preservation society to move forward with plans to provide a space to display the many agricultural implements that have been used on the farm and the carriage and pony cart that were restored by generous donors last year.
The recently restored Corron family carriages from the 1800s will be on display. The carriages were restored by an Amish Craftsman at Miller Carriage Co. in Shipshewana, Indiana. The carriage was donated to the preservation society by the Corron family and the refurbishment was sponsored by a society board member. The carriage had been located in the loft of the dairy barn for over 50 years and was taken down in preparation for the rehabilitation of the barn.
Representatives from the Elgin History Museum will offer an update on the "Dairies to Prairies" project. It tells the story of the Elgin area's dairy heritage. The project also will explore how these former dairy farms have come under pressure from suburban development, modern-day agriculture and efforts to restore natural prairies. This story will be presented through a feature-length documentary film and companion traveling exhibit. This documentary film and traveling exhibit is being created by the Elgin History Museum and Grindstone Productions in collaboration with the Corron Farm Preservation Society.
The farm is located on the northeast corner of Silver Glen and Corron roads.
For information, visit www.corronfarmpreservationsociety.org, www.facebook.com/CorronFarm1835/ or www.facebook.com/CorronFarmPreservationSociety/.
For questions, contact Laurel Garza at (630) 740-2996 or the_garzas@comcast.net.
The Corron Farm Preservation Society, a 501(c) (3) and Illinois tax exempt organization, will hold a 50/50 raffle to raise funds for rehabilitation of the 1870s era dairy barn and support its mission.