A little history can be educational

Mitch Ostdick may be skinny, but the 11-year-old sure was tough enough to crank laundry through an old-fashioned clothes wringer.

Osdick was one of roughly 100 people to attend Sunday's fifth annual Elgin Youth History Fair, put on by the Elgin Area Historical Society and Museum.

The goal of the event is to educate children and their families about how people lived back in the day.

Throughout the fair, parents and kids did things like make butter, shell corn for livestock, and in Osdick's case, wash clothes.

"They don't learn about this kind of stuff in history, they learn about events," said Mitch's mother, Jodi Perkins. "Now, life's easier and we enjoy time with families because we're not in the fields."

Perkins said her son's laundry experience is limited to ironing and putting wet clothes into the dryer.

Mitch said he never thought he'd appreciate the wonders of a modern washer and dryer versus a wash board and wringer.

"It's harder," he said.

Ongoing rain that accompanied the history fair kept attendance numbers down this year, said Lucy Elliott, the fair's organizer. Typically, more than 500 guest show up to take part in the annual fair, held at the Lord's Park Pavilion.

But Elliott saw a silver lining in the clouds, since the fair lasts through Wednesday and will draw school children from all over the region.

"While it rained today, we're happy we're going to have kids enjoy it for the next few days," Elliott said.