Historical society plans educational program

VERNON — The Vernon Township Historical Society is now taking registrations for its popular summer camp, “Hands-On History.”
The camp is for children entering grades 1-4 and will be held at the society’s museum from August 21 to 24 from 9 a.m. to noon each day. Space is limited to only 25 children per day, so register early to ensure a spot for your child.
The cost of the program is $15 a day. This year it focuses on the history of Vernon Township. The children will learn where and when the first settlers came from to Vernon Township, the jobs they had, and activities and cultural aspects they brought from their mother lands. The children will hear stories, play games, make numerous crafts each day, learn to churn butter and make other foods, and enjoy old-fashioned snacks. There will be guest presentations and lots of exciting activities for the children. Most children come back year after year for this very popular program.
On the last day of the program, children will visit Vernon’s own historic one-room schoolhouse at Price’s Switch Road, which exists today exactly as it looked during the 1950s when its doors closed to public education. The schoolhouse, maintained by the historical society still contains its original desks, pot-belly stove, chalkboards, teacher’s desk and bell, and original outhouses. The chalkboards still contain activities children did over the past four decades.
This is an entirely new program this year. To register your child, go to the “Coming Events” page on the society’s webpage at vernonhistoricalsociety.com for an application and mail it in with a check or money order for the number of days your child will attend. There is also an application on the Vernon Historical Society’s Facebook page. Mail the completed application to the Vernon Township Historical Society, P.O. Box 387, Vernon, NJ 07462. For more information, call 973-764-6545.