By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
History aficionados were in for a treat at Colonel Crawford this past Saturday and Sunday as the school district held an open house at the Dapper Cabin.
Opening at 11 a.m. and running through 4 p.m. Ted Bruner and Todd Martin took visitors to the Dapper Cabin on a mini history lesson of Crawford County life in the mid-1800’s. Starting on the front porch of the Cabin, Bruner told the story of the voyages of Eve Elisabeth Tracht and Johann Phillip Dapper’s families to the United States from Germany. Martin continued the presentation of the historical home inside the cabin speaking about the décor of the cabin.
Bruner explained what spearheaded his cause for the restoration of the cabin.
“When you go inside one of these cabins for the first time, then it gives you a feeling of what it was like when people lived here in the county for the first time,” Bruner said. They kind of have an aura about them that you can’t see in anyone else but them, and I felt that this was something that the kids needed to see, and something they needed to know, because we all had a cabin like this in our families at one time. Most of them are gone, this one isn’t. We could repair it, we could work it, and we could show our kids of the county how our people in the county started out.”
While most of the work on the cabin has been complete on the cabin Bruner noted that he is looking to add a German bread oven from the 1800’s to the cabin.
Martin explained the cabin’s versatility for usage.
“We already groups use it, the Lions have held meetings here, we have run multiple kids through it with classes this week with Mr. Bruner,” Martin said. “The nice thing is they have these benches they can have a class inside they can be used inside or outside making it very versatile. There are games out there for the kids to play constructed to represent that era. It is just amazing. I think kids will remember this for the rest of their lives.”
Also on hand to help tell the story of the Dapper Cabin were numerous volunteers who helped tear down and reconstruct the Cabin.
Rick Keller, who had helped with the disassembly of the Cabin explained that at first he was hesitant the project could be done.
“It was amazing, normally I am a positive person, but I looked at this and said no way you need to get a construction crew to do it,” Keller said. “The guys knew what they were doing and we took it apart piece by piece. It was quite an experience.”
Volunteer Ed Speece explained that the project was fun. Speece also described a tool used by the volunteers known as “The Thinking Log.”
“As a group we all enjoyed working together and we made it a fun project rather than work, and it was a team effort,” Speece said. “We had a thing called ‘The Thinking Log’ that whenever we had a problem we went to the thinking log and talked it out and tried to figure out the best way, and things worked out.”
Dorothy Dapper, who married Paul Dapper, attended the open house with her son Bill Dapper. Dapper explained that she thinks the cabin’s restoration will be a great education tool.
“I think it is wonderful and so nice, and it will be great for the school children to learn about it, Dapper said. “A lot of kids don’t have parents who talk to them about things like you had 100 years ago, so I think it is wonderful.”
Gerri Ujvari spoke about the bond built by the volunteers while constructing the Dapper Cabin.
“My husband was one of the ones that came out to work on the cabin, and those guys have made such a bond putting the cabin together they have to go out to breakfast at least once a month,” Ujvari said. “They go out and try to find new things for the cabin, it is great.”
Mike Costmire attended the open house with his wife Julie, and his daughter Jessika. Costmire reflected on his trip through the cabin.
“It is kind of interesting to me, because my mother is a Dapper. She is tied into this somehow, but I am not sure how exactly, so I am trying to get some information for us so we can go back and look into our family’s history,” Costmire said.
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