DNR
Home PageSPRING FROLIC IS APRIL 19 AT NATHAN BOONE HOMESTEAD STATE HISTORIC SITE
JEFFERSON CITY, MO., APRIL 7, 2008 -- When Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site near Ash Grove hosts its annual Spring Frolic on Saturday, April 19, visitors can enjoy the pleasant side of frontier life. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
The Spring Frolic is a recreation of a 19th century Ozarks festival featuring activities that were common on the Missouri frontier of the 1850s. Attendees can take part in many of the games and pastimes that would have been familiar to the Boone family and their neighbors. A nature walk will be held at 9 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by a 19th century "base" game, an early form of baseball. Visitors are invited to join in the game. A special attraction during the game will be Louie, the Springfield Cardinals' mascot, who will be on site from 10 to 11 a.m. to cheer on the teams. In addition to base, visitors can enjoy pitching horseshoes, flying kites and throwing tomahawks. Nineteenth-century music can be heard at the Boone house, where visitors can play historic card and board games throughout the day. Visitors can hear frontier stories and legends, pet farm animals and try fishing in the site's pond.
Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site is located 1.5 miles north of Ash Grove on State Highway V. The site includes Missouri frontiersman Nathan Boone's hewn log home, 400 acres of scenic Ozarks farmland and Boone's last resting place.
For more information, call the historic site at 417-751-3266 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.
