Three Sister’s Park Planting Day on April 24 was attended by Chillicothe-IVC school district elementary students. More than 400 area school children attended the annual three-day event, which is sponsored by local businesses, farmers and others. (Photos by Tim Alexander/for Chronicle Media)

Approximately 400 elementary school students, including dozens of fifth- and sixth-graders from the Chillicothe-Illinois Valley Central 709 school district, participated in some good, old-fashioned farm chores — including turning the soil behind a draft horse — during 2018 Planting Days at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe.

Each spring the park offers students, faculty, families and farm enthusiasts an opportunity to participate in interactive demonstrations in the areas of soil preparation, seed selection and corn planting using circa 1918 farming implements and techniques, including horse-drawn equipment. On April 24, the first day of the three-day event, it was hard to tell who was having the most fun, the students or the dozens of volunteers who annually lend their time and expertise to ensure the event remains relevant, informative and entertaining.

Among them was Don Thompson of Chillicothe, who, along with his wife, Emily, have volunteered for Planting Days for the past 15 years. “It’s a lot of fun,” he said, “but kids today do not know where corn comes from, or bread comes from, or even where milk comes from. So it is also important.”

Thompson runs the corn shelling barn, which is one of several educational stations that help illustrate how past generations of area farmers went about the planting and harvesting processes. Another interactive station allows kids to try their hand at plowing and driving two draft horses to till rows before planting. They are also given a chance to try to pull the plow themselves using a tow rope.

Once the land is furrowed, students help load seed corn into an antique planter and help move the check wire as corn is being planted. They also learn about seed preparation in the early 1900s and how to read germination tests that are already in progress. The difference between open-pollinated and hybrid seeds is also discussed.

Three Sister’s Park Planting Day on April 24 was attended by Chillicothe-IVC school district elementary students. More than 400 area school children attended the annual three-day event, which is sponsored by local businesses, farmers and others. (Photos by Tim Alexander/for Chronicle Media)

The kids are taught about draft horses and their important role on early Illinois farms. Classes also compete in a horse harnessing relay competition using life-size dummy horses.

In addition, the students learn how farmers in 1918 were almost entirely self-sufficient, raising and butchering their own meat, growing their own fruits and vegetables in large gardens and orchards, gathering their own eggs and fashioning much of their own apparel. Farmers typically went into town only once a week with horse and wagon to sell their produce and purchase sugar and flour, the students learn.

At the end of the day, the kids come away with a well-rounded knowledge and appreciation for early farming techniques, country living and food origins.

“This program was started by retired school teachers. We got involved in it and it’s just something that I now love doing,” said Thompson, one of many retired Caterpillar workers, farmers and other professionals who, along with more than 90 financial contributors, keep the event afloat from year to year. “I go out and get all the implements you see, the tractors and equipment on display, and I recruit the contributors. It takes close to $10,000 to put this program on. Elevators, banks, restaurants — I just can’t name all the great people and businesses that step up to help us out.”

Three Sisters Park Foundation funds are not used for Planting Days expenses. Costs are slightly offset through a $3 per student fee. The students are credited with classroom achievement for attending the event, explained Thompson, a CAT retiree who is now a part-time farmer and grain truck driver.

“This event is actually graded; this is not a field trip. The students are going to school and are learning here, according to the state board of education. It is counted as classroom work,” he said.

Three Sister’s Park Planting Day on April 24 was attended by Chillicothe-IVC school district elementary students. More than 400 area school children attended the annual three-day event, which is sponsored by local businesses, farmers and others. (Photos by Tim Alexander/for Chronicle Media)

Midland High School FFA students, under the direction of instructor Darin Blunier, also play a big part as volunteers. The group arrived in advance of the first wave of students to help set up the educational stations and do whatever else that was asked of them. “They do such a great job,” said Thompson, adding that he marvels at how the school children, many of whom spend several hours per day on electronic devices and social media, react to their exposure to the horses, early farming equipment and techniques.

“It’s hard for me to put into words the joy we get just seeing these kids outdoors, having fun and being young. They are learning important lessons here, but also just enjoying life in the outdoors in a farm setting, like life used to be for almost everyone,” a beaming Thompson said.

—IVC students break the prairie, during Three Sisters Park Planting Days–