Church will serve up penny pie and old-fashioned fun
Provided photos: Erik Olsen and his son Levi are dressed as Vikings in this photo from last year’s Old Tyme Day at West Jackson Corners, the miniature village across from East Shelby Community Bible Church. Old Tyme Day returns Sunday.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent
Charles Silvernail of Basom is the “mayor” of West Jackson Corners.
EAST SHELBY – The past is always in the forefront at West Jackson Corners, the 1800s village built by the congregation of the East Shelby Community Bible Church.
That is where on Sunday the annual Old Tyme Day will take place, giving visitors a glimpse of what life was like in the 1800s.
Events begin with an old fashioned church service at 10 a.m., immediately followed by activities in the miniature village.
Visitors can have conversations with historical characters, such as Ben Franklin, Martha Washington, John and Abigail Adams and Betsy Ross.
Patriotic concerts will take place near the village square and for only a penny, they can sample classic dishes cooked on an open fire, bread baked in a beehive oven, all-you-can-eat homemade pies and hotdogs, hand-spun ice cream and popcorn.
Activities include kids’ games, wool spinning, candle making, basket weaving, horse and buggy rides and horseback riding.
Features of the village are weaving on an old-time loom, a working blacksmith shop, a woodworker’s shop, a sewing shop, a penny candy store, a miniature church with a steeple identical to that of the main church and a mill with a waterwheel fed by a sluiceway.
Everyone is welcome to view pictures, letters and articles of former members on display in the church, take a horse and buggy ride to the historic East Shelby Cemetery and listen to a gospel concert at 4 p.m. in the church.
East Shelby Community Bible Church is located at 5278 East Shelby Rd., one mile south of East Shelby.
Mitch Kolb turns the wheel which runs the lathe in Israel Sanborn’s woodworking shop at West Jackson Corners at Old Fashioned Day.
