Pepin, WI – Closed October 30, 2011

Independence, KS – Closed October 31, 2011 – Daily, Weekends in November, call before you go

Walnut Grove, MN - Closed October 31, 2011, Mail Order shopping still available

Burr Oak, IA – Closed October 31, 2011

De Smet, SD -
Memorial Society open all year with slightly reduced hours

Ingalls Homestead – Closed October 31, 2011, Office remains open for making reservations, etc.

Mansfield, MO - Closes November 15, 2011, Possibly will do a Christmas event, not decided yet

Malone, NY - Closed September 30, 2011, Re-opens for December 3rd for Christmas With Almanzo event (1 Day)

Spring Valley, MN - Closed October 31, 2011

Keystone, SD – Closed September 15, 2011

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio
Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association, Vice-President and Membership Chair

Almanzo Wilder Doll

The Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum have released the following event schedule for 2011. Although the mailing address is Malone and it is the bigger town, the farm itself is closer to the small town of Burke, New York and locals will refer to it being near Burke. The farm has quite a few events scheduled for this fall.

Open for the Season May 28-September 30

August 21
Adult Oil Painting Class with noted artist Wilson Bickford Limit 8-20 students; $55 including all materials and optional tour, registration required with non-refundable deposit of $25.
11:30 am Optional Tour of Wilder Farm
1:00-5:00 pm Art Class begins at 1:00 pm Call for more information.

September 18-24
“As Time Passes” – 2nd Annual Adult Juried Art Show. View juried works by local artists. Vote for ‘Best in Show.”
Gala Opening on the 18th, 4:00-6:00 pm Meet the artists and enjoy light refreshments in the Visitors’ Center

September 24
Annual Harvest Festival and Civil War Living History Encampment
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Reduced Admission: Adults $5, Children 6-16 $3, 5 and under Free. No guided tours. Family activities: pumpkin painting, scarecrow making, 19th century games, chapter reading from Farmer Boy and more.
1:00 pm Civil War Skirmish

September 25
Annual Harvest Festival and Civil War Living History Encampment
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Homestead open – Regular Admission and Guided Tours
10:00 am Church service with Civil War Re-Enactors
11:00 am Civil War Skirmish

December 3
Celebrate Christmas With Almanzo
11:00 am – 3:00 pm Free Admission
11:30 am & 1:00 pm Readings of Christmas chapter of Farmer Boy. Adult must accompany and remain with children.
Enjoy homemade cookies, mulled cider, Christmas Carols and shopping in our gift shop. Complimentary gift wrapping from purchases.

If you want to know, the Almanzo Wilder doll was purchased at the Spring Valley, Minnesota Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum gift shop.

Pepin, Wisconsin - May 15th

Independence, Kansas  - April 1st

Walnut Grove, Minnesota – April 1st

Burr Oak, Iowa - April 1st

Spring Valley, Minnesota - June 1st

De Smet, South Dakota - Remains open all year for limited hours but extends hours and opens Sat. starting May 2nd and is open 7 days a week starting June 1st.

Ingalls Homestead  in De Smet, South Dakota – May 28th

Mansfield, Missouri - March 1st

Malone/ Burke, New York  - May 28th

Keystone – June 1st

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio

Lots of people making a Laura trip — what we tend to call a trip to Laura’s homesite towns — for the first time, especially those who haven’t researched much beforehand, might not know what to expect. But the more you put into prepping a trip and asking questions ahead of time, the more you get out of it. Most of these towns don’t tell you everything in a one-stop-shopping format; all of them house extra little jewels if you’re willing to dig.

No matter which Laura town you visit, the best piece of advice I can give you is this: Park your car, get out, and walk. Laura didn’t experience these towns zooming by looking through her car window, and to get the best experience, neither should you. This lesson was borne into me again on a trip to De Smet, South Dakota, where I had my favorite Laura experience.

It was during a Laura conference. After the conference broke up for the day, my mother and I headed out to the Ingalls Homestead, the land southeast of town that the Ingalls family homesteaded in the 1880s. I was wearing a long dress and walked up the road from the schoolhouse back to the front gate. The sun beat down, the wind tossed the prairie grasses, kids were singing, insects were buzzing, little clouds of dust swirled up with each step and my skirts swirled around my ankles. This was the very road that Laura and her whole family must have walked a thousand times. I felt like Laura could be coming over the hill at any minute. It was really a magical experience.

Walking’s also a more practical way to get a feel for any town. I’ve walked all over De Smet. It really helps you get a feel for the town as Laura knew it, to get the relation of places to one another if you look from two feet on the ground rather than in a car. De Smet even boasts an official walking tour now. Walking there is very doable and I even met a family once who had taken an airport shuttle to town (from the “big city”) and were walking literally everywhere for the week all over De Smet. I gave them a ride back to the hotel after the pageant in the dark, but they’d walked from that home base as far as the Ingalls Homestead, the De Smet cemetery where the Ingalls graves (all but Laura’s) are, and the site of Rose’s birthplace north of town.

When I took a bus trip to Malone (documented in the Winter 2007-2008 issue of the Homesteader), the bus to take us from our lodging in the center of town out to the Wilder Homestead wasn’t leaving until 9 am. Well, I wasn’t about to waste a couple hours in Malone. So my partner in crime, Mary Kopsieker, and I started walking. Starting at the Super 8, where we were staying, we walked as far the Congregational Church locating related sights around town. By the time we returned to the bus and we drove back by, people were amazed at how many places I could point out around town.

Street signs on the corner in Pepin, Wisconsin

Pepin is another town that provides a great example of getting a feel for it by walking. When I am town for Laura Ingalls Wilder Days (which happen every September — it’s a great time, especially for kids; check it out if you’re ever in Wisconsin in the fall), I tend to park my car either by the Pepin Public Library (where there usually are presentations, including mine) or the Pepin Motel if I’m staying there, which is right next to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park where the events are held. Then I leave it there until I head over to the Wayside (the replica cabin site at Laura’s birthplace, seven miles outside of town) and the Little House Store in Lund, which is past the cabin and not affiliated with the offical Wilder museum, but still worth wandering through.

Walking gives you a real feel for the town and how close things are. In the right part of town — along the marina and uphill from there — you’ll see all kinds of unique shops that exemplify Pepin’s diverse, artistic population. Someday, just as Pa did, I’m going to walk all the way out to the Wayside. As soon as I can talk somebody into doing it with me.

You don’t have to walk as far as that, but I encourage everyone wherever you go on your next Laura trip: Get out and walk!

Sarah S. Uthoff, Trundle Bed Tales