Tiffany Crone wandered through the area near the Myers Cabin on Saturday with her son, Daniel, at the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, just east of Seymour.
They, along with Erik Hoene, made their way through the festival, taking in the activities, demonstrations and education the day offered.
The area includes the cabin, once owned by Louis and Nancy Myers, along with a nearby barn.
But on Saturday, there was more than just those two structures, as the Muscatatuck Wildlife Society hosted Log Cabin Day for the first time since 2019.
The day featured old-time entertainment, storytelling, a tour of the cabin, pioneer demonstrations, children’s activities, rides through the refuge’s closed area, a chore corral for kids and a ham and bean lunch.
“I don’t think he will take as much for granted,” Crone said about her son as he sawed a log during the children’s chore corral. “I think our younger generation needs to know our history.”
The event culminated National Wildlife Refuge Week, which celebrates the network of lands and waters that conserves and protects Americans’ wildlife heritage. The National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, provides vital habitat for thousands of native species. There are 588 national wildlife refuges covering 95 million acres across the country. Muscatatuck is one of three in Indiana.
The event, of course, was centered around the Myers Cabin. It was built around 1885, and Nancy lived in the cabin until her death in 1948. The family built the cabin with the help of Nancy’s brothers, raised five children and farmed the land around them.
Carl, the oldest son in the family, played an important role in helping the family keep their farm going. He quit school as a third.grade student and was a self-taught horticulturist. Carl later raised a successful orchard, famous for his peach and persimmon trees he sold across the state.
Donna Stanley, the refuge’s park ranger, said the Muscatatuck Wildlife Society organizes, plans and staffs the event for families to honor and learn about the ways of the people who lived on the land before it became a refuge.
“The event started as a celebration of the restoration of Myers Cabin and barn approximately 28 years ago,” she said. “The area was special to them, and now, it is a special place for everyone to enjoy. Reconnecting people with history is a good thing.”
Stanley said the refuge hosted a smaller-scaled event in 2022 but was excited to see the event come back in a big way this year. She said the event goes a long way into creating value around public lands, which is vital to the refuge’s mission.
“The future of our public lands.and national wildlife refuges depends on how they are valued by people,” she said. “Log Cabin Day is about people and the ways they interacted with and valued the land that is now the refuge.”
The cabin and barn nearly went into disrepair until a group of men in the early 1990s set out to restore the cabin and barn.
Phil McClure, one of the men responsible for the restoration, sat outside the cabin with a display to show the cabin during restoration and answer questions. The barn was restored first beginning around 1991.
“The cabin was in sad shape, and Donna mentioned that it was either going to have to be restored or be torn down,” he recalled. “We figured since we were all retired from the telephone company, we started around 1995 on the cabin and worked on it for two years.”
McClure said he takes satisfaction in seeing people enjoy the cabin and learning about its history.
“It’s terrific to see kids out here,” he said. “You have to have the kids because they can carry it on.”
McClure said he has enjoyed how the festival has progressed throughout the years into what it is today.
“This festival started as a little celebration with a bean dinner and dedication, but as time went by, it increased and we added more,” he said.