![]() It teaches you a lot of life skills such as cooking, cleaning, doing things around the farm,” Shott said. While for most, spending the summer with no electricity would be difficult, the girls said it’s a great learning experience. “And we looked through it and did some quizzes to help us understand a bit better.” “They gave us handbooks and I did a tad research…” Bettinger said. They even had to spend some time doing research to be able to get in character and educate guests. They’re probably surprised that we’re in here, putting up with what we do.” “So seeing us here, when we’re in these big poofy dresses, working around this house with the fire, it’s hot. “They’re a little surprised I think because they think we’re a little younger than we are… This is only a summer thing, they usually don’t see us during the winter times when it’s cooler,” Shott said. Though Shott and Bettinger have regular teenage interests such as gymnastics, many are surprised to hear that someone their age spends their summer in a small cabin with no electricity or air conditioning. Interpreter Hannah Bettinger fills water bucket for boiling in the Lincoln Log Cabin on June 30th 2022. The cottage cheese is very yummy.” Bettinger said. Many campers said that the cooking was their favorite part, as the food is fun to make and quite good. “If we do bread, we have prepackaged ingredients such as flour…vegetables and fruits we have growing somewhere around here… we handpick them,” Shott said. They prepare the food just as if it were the 1800s, over a fire with hand-picked ingredients and 19th-century-style cookware. And bleach and water so we can wash the dishes.”Ī huge part of their work day is cooking the meal from scratch for everyone at the camp. “We’ll fill up the buckets with cleaning supplies, of just soap and water. So we’ll fill up the pails full of water,” Shott said. “It’s usually the same thing every day minus the meal. Every Thursday, they go to the historical site to do tasks around the replica cabin. The site hosts summer camps for elementary-age students who usually go on to officially become interpreters when they turn 13.ī’Elanna Shott (13) and Hannah Bettinger (13) are homeschooled students from Charleston, IL, who participated in the young pioneer camp and took interest in officially becoming interpreters this summer. They also do tasks around the farm like taking care of animals, cooking, and partaking in popular 19th-century activities, such as quilting. Volunteer interpreters act out the pioneer life in the summer and educate guests at the site, answering questions, while in pioneer-era clothing. Today, the replica of the Lincoln Cabin stands in the same spot. While Abraham Lincoln never lived there, he often visited his parents’ two-room cabin. Lincoln Log Cabin is a historical site where Abraham Lincoln’s father and step-mother resided in the 1840s. ![]() ![]() However, B’Elanna Shott and Hannah Bettinger are spending their months off school tending to chickens, boiling water over a fire, and churning butter in their month-long pioneer program at the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site in Lerna, Illinois. Most teenagers spend their summers going on TikTok, binging shows on Netflix, and calling friends. ![]() A summer without electricity at Lincoln Log Cabin ![]()
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