Wagon Rides and Ice Harvest Day

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Richardson Nature Ctr

Discover a bit of Minnesota History during the days before electric refrigerators. Hardy ice harvesters sawed massive blocks of ice out of frozen lakes and ponds to keep food chilled. Meet ice harvesting historian, Tim Graf, and costumed interpreters from The Landing - Minnesota River Heritage Park as you use real ice harvesting tools. Cut blocks of ice out of the pond with an old fashioned ice saw, pretend you are a work horse and pull an antique plow to mark the ice, make ice cubes or shave ice out of blocks of ice, use a scale to weigh a block of ice and try out many other ice harvesting historical tools that can still be used today. Enjoy a wagon ride pulled by Percheron horses through the prairie. Learn about ice fishing and ice safety with the DNR's MinnAqua staff and discover how the Park District tests water quality. Keep warm by an outdoor campfire or head inside the nature center to watch an ice harvesting video.