The Friends of Colonial Pemaquid is offering the sixth graders of the Bristol Consolidated School a chance to experience living history at Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts.

With proceeds from the Howell Fund, an endowment established in the name of founding president Jan Howell, the Friends are funding this initial trip.

It is hoped this will be an ongoing program for local school children to immerse themselves in early 17th century American history and to find appreciation for the rich cultural history of their own Bristol community and the Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site. 

In preparation for their overnight visit to 17th century Plimoth Plantation, Bristol fifth and sixth graders, their teachers and parents welcomed Plimoth Plantation visitors, Kate LaPrade, director of museum studies, and Vicki Oman, manager of family programs, to the school.

What followed was a step back into history, as Oman, in period dress and speech as Goodwife Hopkins, took her audience back in time to early 17th century England and the story of the Mayflower voyagers and their ultimate settlement at Plimoth, Mass.

Weaving history, geography and culture, Oman engaged the students with thoughtful questions, opportunities to try on period clothing, use kitchen and dining implements, practice 17th century manners, stroke beaver pelts and play with colonial toys. She also told of the historical connection between Bristol and Plimoth, when the hungry Plimoth settlers traveled to Pemaquid in 1620-23 to obtain cod in a place that was “fat with fish.”

The connection with the Native American Samoset, who was born in the Bristol area, was also relayed. It was Samoset, with his command of English, who gave aid and instruction to the new Plimoth settlers in their efforts to survive in their new home.

The students will travel by bus for their two-day program in early June, where they will get up close and personal with 17th century Plimoth in an engaging and experiential environment. Kids will play English games, learn to write with a quill pen and even try some Pilgrim fare for dinner.

After dark, the group will experience life at night without electricity inside a candlelit Pilgrim house. In addition to the 17th century English village and the Wampanoag home-site, there will also be an opportunity to visit a working grist mill and the Mayflower II at anchorage on Plymouth’s waterfront.

The presentation and the planned overnight visit to Plimoth Plantation have come about due to a developing partnership between Jennifer Ribeiro, principal of the Bristol School, Donovan York, sixth grade teacher, and the Friends. To better understand the historic and cultural links between Plimoth and Colonial Pemaquid, the sixth graders will also have a class tour of the Colonial Pemaquid State Historic site in May and will attend the first evening lantern walk of the season.

The Friends of Colonial Pemaquid is an all-volunteer association established in the fall of 1993 and incorporated as a 501c(3) nonprofit with a mission to promote Colonial Pemaquid’s historical significance through the development, support and implementation of educational programs. It also assists the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands in preserving, maintaining, and enhancing the site’s buildings and grounds. This significant archaeological site was designated a National Historic landmark on June 25, 1994.

For directions, more information about individual events and about Colonial Pemaquid in general, please visit our website at www.friendsofcolonialpemaquid.org