ThisWeek CW 08/04/2011
Thirty years is only a drop in the bucket for the Slate Run Living Historical Farm, which was originally founded as a family farm more than 200 years ago.
The farm, now owned and managed by the Franklin County Metro Parks, celebrated its 30th anniversary of educating the public the weekend of July 29-30.
“We’re really happy to pass another mark in time,” program manager Ann Culek said. “This farm was originally given as a land grant in 1810, so 30 years is just a small slice of time for this piece of land. The Metro Parks bought the land around 1976 and opened it as a living history farm in 1981.”
The purpose of the Metro Parks-run farm is to educate people about Ohio’s agrarian roots and to reconnect visitors with an understanding of the food system.
Crops are still grown and harvested, livestock is raised and all of the buildings are maintained as they were in the 1880s, according to Culek. Visitors are invited to participate in farm chores and take part in period activities, such as arts and crafts projects, that were a part of daily life on an 1880s-era Ohio farm.
“Twenty-five years ago, there were no housing developments between here and Columbus, but now that’s not the case, so we get fewer and fewer people with a background in agriculture,” Culek said. “It’s nice to get people to touch a cow or see peas growing. We offer a chance to get people outside — and a quiet place for families. There’s no electricity and no video games here.”
Franklin County Metro Parks spokeswoman Peg Hanley agreed.
“It’s a short drive from Columbus, but a long way back in time,” Hanley said. “Once you walk through the gate and take that lane back from the parking lot you just sort of slow down and you disconnect from your technology. I’ll see people on cell phones and other devices in our other parks, but I don’t see much of that at the farm.”
Hanley and Culek both said that the farm offers families a chance to reconnect with each other.
“I see people come with their families and they sit on the back porch of the old farmhouse talking about when they grew up on a farm, or their grandparent’s farm, and it allows the families a chance to share that with their kids and to connect over those memories,” Hanley said.
The farm is run year-round by a staff of eight with maintenance and administrative support shared with the Slate Run Metro Park, as well as 40 volunteers and their families. Funding for the farm comes from Metro Park levies, and Culek said that it couldn’t operate without dedicated volunteers.
“We ask volunteers for 60 hours a year but we’ve had up to 1,000 hours,” Culek said. “Volunteers have been an important part of this since the beginning. We’ve had people who have volunteered here for over 20 years.”
Culek herself has been with the farm for the last 23 of those 30 years.
Individuals interested in volunteering can fill out a form online at www.metroparks.net or visit the farm. A schedule of the farm’s seasonal hours, as well as activities the public can participate in, are also listed at the metro parks website.
The Slate Run Living Historical Farm is at 1375 State Route 674 North, Canal Winchester.