Picnic, painting, old-fashioned games part of the fun planned
Step back to a simpler time, to the early 1900s, when Model T Fords and high wheel bicycles ruled the road, and families played games of Checkers, tiddlywinks and croquet together.
Arlington Heights Historical Museum officials will feature these and more in their new event on Sunday, called "Picnic, Plein Air and Pastimes: Celebrating 1882-1908-2008."
The outdoor festival takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, on the Arlington Heights Historical Museum grounds. Admission is free.
What started four years ago with its Plein Air event, with artists painting outdoors, using the historic museum campus and its formal gardens as a backdrop, now has grown to encompass some museum milestones.
Cathy Robertson, museum program coordinator, said her staff had been searching for an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Banta House, built in 1908 by Nathaniel Banta for his wife Minnie and daughter, Elizabeth.
During the brainstorming, they realized they had missed the 125th anniversary of the other home on the museum campus, the Muller House, built in 1882 by Frederick Muller who operated a pop factory in early Arlington Heights.
"We couldn't just celebrate one without the other," Robertson says.
Consequently, the enhanced event includes old-fashioned games, a cupcake walk, old-time tableau photos with a horse and wagon, as well as a pair of vintage Model T Fords and high roller bicycles on display.
Organizers encourage families to bring a picnic and make an afternoon out of it, though a complimentary root beer float - reflecting the original pop factory - or hot bag of popcorn will be provided to guests.
The museum's two historic homes also will be open for tours. Each has been restored to their appropriate time periods, though ongoing restoration continues.
Live musical entertainment will be provided by the fiddlers and banjo players in the band, Loose Change & Friends, as well as singing in barbershop harmony by the Arlingtones chorus members.
The Plein Air event still is a main attraction. It offers the chance to watch 20 working artists creating their pieces, in a variety of media. Those include watercolor, pencil drawing, woodcutting, oil, acrylics, soft pastels, photography and mixed media.
Watercolorist Irene Taylor of Arlington Heights has participated nearly every year. Last year she painted a corner of the Banta House, capturing an angle at which the sun was hitting it.
"As a watercolorist, I look for strong light," Taylor says. "But just painting outdoors, you see things a little differently. The color is a little more true."
Many of the participating artists have pieces on exhibit in the museum's Heritage Gallery, which opened its latest "Arlington Artists on Display," last week.
The exhibit features the original works of more than 50 artists who live or work in Arlington Heights. It runs through Nov. 20.
If you go
What: Picnic, Plein Air and Pastimes: Celebrating 1882-1908-2008
When: 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7
Where: on the grounds of the Arlington Heights Historical Museum, 110 W. Fremont St. Cost: Free
More information: www.ahmuseum.org