Zoar’s Family Work Day

  • By Curtis Robert Tyree
  • June 28, 2011
  • 305
Zoar’s Family Work Day
Zoar’s Family Work Day
Zoar’s Family Work Day
                        
Life in Zoar at the time of the village’s founding was much more difficult than life today. On June 25, the Zoar Community Association hosted an event called Werktag, which in English means Work Day, to allow visitors the opportunity to not only learn about but experience the difficulty of everyday life in the 19th century. “This is the second year, sort of, for the village’s Werktag. We used to hold it awhile ago. It went away for a few years but last year we brought it back,” said Sherrie Baughman of the Zoar Community Association. “What Werktag did was to allow visitors to experience life back when Zoar was originally founded by German settlers. Throughout the village we had costumed interpreters demonstrating chores from the village’s past, such as metalworking, planting, baking, and other chores that had to be done to keep the village going.” Zoar was founded in 1817 by German separatists as a communal society, with members of the group splitting chores, with different families in charge of separate daily activities. The idea was that while one family worked on either laundry or cooking, it freed up all the other families to work on other chores. Once the Ohio and Erie Canal opened, Zoar began to prosper as a popular trading city, their goods being sold in Cleveland and making the community a powerful player along the canal. “We were very pleased with the turnout this year. It seemed that many families came through with their children to not only learn something new, but to have a fun day,” said Baughman. “The way Werktag worked was that whoever wanted to take part in it could go to various locations within the village and get hands on with some of the chores. For instance, in the tinsmith’s house they made a necklace, in the greenhouse they made planters for seeds from newspaper or painted birdhouses. The idea was that kids could get hands-on with the activities and also take something with them along with helping with the daily chores.” “The kids definitely had a good time while here at the tinsmith’s house,” said Bruce Barth, of Louisville, and interpreter in the tinsmith’s house. “Here the kids made necklaces by piercing a jar lid, just using a hammer and nail to make holes in it. It also seemed like the adults had a good time as well, just looking around at all the old pieces of metalwork that were on display. But the kids had the most fun. All we did was give them a little guidance and help, a hammer, some nails and a piece of metal and they had a blast.” “This was our children’s first time visiting Zoar and they’re having a great time,” said Rachel Westfall of Massillon. “We saw something for the event and thought the kids would enjoy it. Well, they did. My daughter, Jessica, especially loved the birdhouse painting part of the day, but she also enjoyed the tinsmith’s portion. I remember coming and enjoying it here as a kid myself, so I’m glad my children did as well.”


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