FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2007
CONTACT: Molly Dannenmaier
Director of Marketing and Public Relations,
409-765-7834

Galveston Historical Foundation’s Discovery Day Camp Begins Monday, June 25

Slots still available for children ages 6 to 12
Registration Deadline Extended to Friday, June 22

There are still slots available for Galveston Historical Foundation’s (GHF) annual Discovery Day Camp for children, which begins Monday. The camp is for children ages 6 to 12. The cost is $150 for the week. GHF members receive a 20 percent discount. The camp runs Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The camp will include visits to and activities at GHF historic properties and museums along with a wide array of activities designed to help children experience what Galveston life was like in the 19th century. Campers will visit Ashton Villa, the Samuel May Williams and Michel B. Menard houses, the Galveston County Historical Museum, the Great Storm Theater, and the Texas Seaport Museum, home of Elissa, the Official Tall Ship of Texas. Campers will also take a tour of Galveston Harbor aboard GHF’s 50-foot motorized education vessel, Seagull II.

On Monday, campers will learn about Galveston’s beginnings at the 1838 Michel B. Menard House, Galveston’s oldest surviving residential dwelling. The focus will be everyday life in Galveston during the 1830s. Using quill, berry ink and paper they make themselves, campers will learn calligraphy techniques. They will bind their own memory folders that will document their week of discovery. They will learn about the telegraph station located in the Menard House’s backyard, and like World War I radio operators, they will learn how to break codes. They will end the day with a sampling of French desserts and an art print making session.

On Tuesday, campers will experience a day of “Downtown Discovery.” They will start with a tour of the Galveston County Historical Museum, focusing on the Karankawa Indians, the Great Storm, and quilts. After that, campers will take a walking tour of the downtown business district, once the commercial center of the Southwest, noting how it has changed over the years. The observation platform of the ANICO tower, the city’s tallest building, will provide campers with a bird’s eye view of the city. A trolley ride will take them to the beach for lunch. At the beach they will also make a plaster sand casting. In the afternoon, campers will travel back to The Strand and watch candy being made at La King’s Confectionery. Then they will go to the waterfront to see “The Great Storm” and the Pirate Island of Jean Lafitte” at the Pier 21 Theater. A carriage ride and a photo scavenger hunt of downtown architecture finish a full day.

On Wednesday, the focus of Discovery Day Camp is “Sea Life Adventure.” Campers will tour the restored 1877 sailing ship Elissa and learn something of the skills and traditions of seafaring under sail. Inside the Texas Seaport Museum they will participate in a scavenger hunt and watch “Passage to Galveston,” a movie about the rescue and restoration of Elissa. After that, campers will take a tour of Galveston Harbor aboard the modern vessel Seagull II. They also will have the opportunity to become artists and writers for a day. They will sketch or paint pictures of Elissa and the 1937 shrimp boat Santa Maria using a variety of artistic media. They will interview a sailor and illustrate his story. After lunch, campers will learn sea chanties, sailor crafts, functional and decorative knot tying, and taste seafarer food: limeade, jerky and hardtack. Galveston’s past, as a major center for immigration will be explored, with the campers taking on the identities of actual immigrants.

On Thursday, campers will focus on an exploration of upper-class Victorian life. They will tour the first and oldest of Galveston’s Broadway mansions, Ashton Villa, and explore the lives of Victorian children. At tea time in the ballroom, campers will snack on scones and tea while learning Victorian table manners. They will create period items—calling cards, painted fans and candy holders based on pieces in the house. Campers will also visit the Rosenberg Library and view some of the items in the Galveston Collection. After lunch, campers will take a sightseeing tour train and view some of Galveston’s other Victorian sites.

On Friday, campers will experience two sides of pioneer life in early 19th-century Galveston: that of the wealthy Williams family and the very different one of their slaves. Campers will tour the Samuel May Williams House and learn what it took to keep the large plantation running. They will make their own oatmeal soap and hand-rolled beeswax candles, learn to weave, and touch historic artifacts. Camp will conclude with the campers’ making ice cream and playing pioneer games.

For more information or to register, call Lori Crossno, director of education at Galveston Historical Foundation,
409-765-7834.