Prairie power: Trafalgar to host Library on the Prairie

Outside the Trafalgar branch of the Johnson County Public Library, a natural wonderland awaits.

Native grasses shift in the breeze. Butterflies, bees and other insects constantly flit among black-eyed Susans and coneflowers. Small trees and shrubs dot the property, offering slight shade from the late-summer sun.

The Trafalgar library’s reconstructed prairie is always buzzing with activity. But this weekend, it will really come alive with the return of one of the branch’s most unique events.

The local community is invited to step back in time at the branch’s Library on the Prairie event from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. For the first time since 2019, library staff will take to the outdoors with activities, demonstrations and entertainment that recalls a time when native prairie dominated southern Johnson County.

Visitors can see quilting in action, watch a blacksmith work, see antique farm machinery and listen to Civil War-era music.

“We wanted to highlight the beautiful prairie at the Trafalgar Branch as well as providing an event with fun learning opportunities about Johnson County history and what life was like on the prairie in the mid-1800s,” said Kelly Staten, programming manager for the Johnson County Public Library.

Library on the Prairie was born in 2018 as a way for teach history in a different kind of way, Staten said. The inaugural event was incredibly popular with local residents, so they brought it back the following year as well.

The COVID pandemic interrupted the festival, and library officials had planned some other fall-time events coming out of the pandemic.

Still, organizers were determined to bring it back again eventually.

“It’s our goal to have it every three years, rotating it with some newer events we’re still planning and other established festival type programs like Read to Me Jamboree,” Staten said. “A lot of people, including our presenters have been excited about its return and love being a part of it.”

In putting Library on the Prairie together, Staten and other library staff secured a wide variety of history-oriented entertainers.

The event kicks off with a performance from Freetown Village Singers, an group dedicated to preserving African-American traditions and culture through storytelling and song. Danny Russel, portraying legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone, will host a storytelling event.

Other performers include the folk duo Patchwork Music and a clogging demonstration from the Circle City Cloggers.

Nimble Thimble Quilting Club will be in the community room holding quilting demonstrations throughout the day as well as offering sewing-inspired activities for people. They can learn what it was like to wash clothes without a washing machine or play dress-up with a variety of costumes and then snap an old-timey photo.

“People will be able to see antique farm machinery, watch a blacksmith at work, see farm animals, and learn about the Trafalgar prairie and take a prairie tour with Johnson County Soil and Water,” Staten said. “Visitors can attend storytime in a one room schoolhouse, play games from the time period, experience the Oregon Trail in virtual reality, learn about the bees at the Trafalgar branch, experience Civil War history and learn how to make the perfect pie at the pie baking demo.”

As people arrive, they are encouraged to pick up passport to get stamped at the different stations which they can turn in for a treat at the mercantile.

At the heart of it all is the prairie itself, Staten said.

“Our Trafalgar branch prairie is reminiscent of the Indiana landscape before it was settled and is the perfect place for this event,” she said. “If you attend, you’ll be able to learn about the native grasses and how the prairie provides a wildlife habitat to birds, frogs, bees and other wildlife and see the prairie in bloom.

“It’s a really unique experience that we don’t have at any of our other branches and also a serene spot in the community that everyone can enjoy.”

This event is funded by gifts to the Johnson County Public Library Foundation. For a full schedule of events for the day, go to PageAfterPage.org/LOTP.

IF YOU GO

Library on the Prairie

What: A special festival looking at what life was like in Indiana in the mid-1800s, with demonstrations, activities, historic farm equipment and entertainment.

When: Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday

Where: Trafalgar branch of the Johnson County Public Library, 424 S. Tower St.

Information and full schedule: PageAfterPage.org/LOTP