ALBANY, GA. -- Chehaw's 19th Annual Frontier Festival kicked off this weekend, giving locals a chance to experience what life was like over 200 hundred years ago.
Instead of tweeting and texting, women of the 17th and 18th century spent their days catching up on the fashions, but there were no Wal-Marts available, so people had to plan well in advance for a garment.
First, they had to go out and shear the sheep and then wash the fibers. After that, the separated fibers were spun into thread.
While women dressed the family, men caught dinner and brought it home to cook.
“We had some deer meat we had some dove that was wrapped in bacon,” said Chehaw Natural Resources Manager Ben Kirkland.
Even the bread eaten along with the meal was made fresh on a daily basis.
“You would make lye. Take the ashes from your wood fire and run water through it. That becomes lye water and you boil that down until you have a residue at the end. It's a white powdery substance. It's basically lye ash and you use that as your leavening. Now we use baking powder it's a lot safer for you,” said Veronica Wiese.
She says many take the availability of water and resources for granted but the frontier festival provides a realistic view inside the world of old.
“Our schools try so hard to teach history but they can't show you what it's like and when you come out here that's what we do,” Veronica Wiese.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWFXL