Submitted by Donna Digennaro, Clermont Historical Society
Now that the school year has begun, why not take your children to Clermont’s Historic Village to see what school used to be like.
In the picture above you can see that all different age groups are in the same room. The younger students are busy working while the teacher is with the older students. One boy is carefully reading while the other two are on their tablets! Yes, the original, slate tablets where a student did all his or her work, had it checked by the teacher, erased it (boy in front row) and then went on to the next assignment.
After checking out the schoolhouse, go into the original Cooper Memorial Library. There you will see the ancestor of today’s computers, two manual typewriters. Are you old enough to remember exercising your fingers before starting to type, getting the keys jammed, carbon paper for copies, changing ribbon, or so many of the other joys of typing on one of them? If you are, or even if you are not, it is fun to see how people who have never seen one of them react. The library also has interesting collections of antique radios, telephones (see if the kids can figure out a rotary dial, or maybe you?), and cameras.
The Historic Village is conveniently located at 490 West Avenue not far from the Downtown shopping area and on the shores of beautiful Lake Minneola. The Village is open every Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. A donation of $5.00 per person 12 and over is requested.
Docents are on hand to give a guided tour, or you can tour the buildings on your own using the “red buttons” to provide information on each building. The Historical Society is planning its annual Heritage Day Festival for Saturday, November 5th so mark your calendars for this fun, free, family-friendly day!
(Photo by Larry Oskin)
