KCKidsFun

June 26, 2010 marks the date of something that could be a unique, educational activity for your entire family!  There will be events that day in St. Joseph, MO tying in with the National Pony Express Association Re-Ride.  The Re-Ride marks the 150th Anniversary of the Pony Express ride!  Did you know that the route covered 1966 miles and twisted from Sacramento, California through Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and ended in St. Joseph, Missouri???

Riders will partake in a river crossing, and there will be a parade through downtown St. Joseph.  Don’t forget about the Pony Express Monument and the Patee House Museum/Pony Express Headquarters, either!

In conjunction with the Pony Express anniversary activities, The St Joseph Museums, Inc.  has self-published Bustin’ at the Seams, a children’s view of St Joseph in 1860. It is written and illustrated by Amy Grier.  The book’s main character is Amelia, age 8, the daughter of one of St Joseph’s blacksmiths. Her brother, Andrew, age 14, wants to ride for the Pony Express, and he happens to be a friend of  Johnny Fry. We learn details of the Express through their friendship. The chapter book is written to appeal to both girls and boys in grades second through fifth. It is available for $8 from the St Joseph Museums.

There’s an interesting back-story here.  The Museum has a doll club that formed a couple of years ago. The girls in the club, generally ages 6-12, use the American Girl doll stories as inspiration to learn more about history. Amy Grier is the education coordinator at the musuem and she puts together enriching programs for the club, which meets about once a month. Last summer the girls had a camp where they studied the depression era doll, Kit. In the American Girl books Kit is a huge fan of Amelia Earhart. Wanting to incorporate some local history, they studied Earhart and ended the camp with a field trip to Atchison for the Amelia Earhart festival. Back at the museum that evening, relaxing over milk shakes, a book concept emerged!

The girls wanted to know why the museum couldn’t create a unique doll, based on St Joseph history, and write stories for her. So the girls began writing and drawing ideas for a book. They determined time frame, characters, items that would accesorize the stories, what crafts and recipes were needed, etc.  Knowing the 150th anniversay of the Pony Express was only nine months away, the girls picked that time frame.

There are plans for more books to follow.  The Museum also hopes to have a resource book to go along with the set. The resource book would explain what is happening in St Joseph during the late 1850’s and early ’60’s in more depth than a chapter book can.

You can call Amy at the museum for more info, 816-232-8471.  Currently the museum is hosting a special display, “Riders of the Pony Express”, running through Dec 15, 2010.  Make it a day in St. Joseph and brush up on your Pony Express history!  Sounds like lots of fun.