Plattsburgh Press Republican - 07/28/11
Old-time Agrarian Life Comes to Life
SUSAN TOBIAS Press-Republican
PERU — Leeward Babbie always wanted to share his love of old-fashioned farm life with the younger generation.
His hard work, determination and hands-on help from family have given the Champlain native his wish.
Babbie Rural & Farm Learning Museum covers five acres of prime farmland on River Road in Peru. Located adjacent to the farm Babbie owned from 1961 to 2002, he has built a miniature farm site and museum to show young people what it took in earlier years to work the land.
A true family affair, the activities and programs are implemented by his sister, Audrey Falcon, and her sons, Brett and Lance Falcon. Friend and volunteer Sharron Morrow acts as treasurer and serves on the Board of Trustees.
"My uncle grew up on the family farm in Champlain," said Brett, also a board member. "My Meme and Pepe were Cyrille and Bertha LaValley Babbie, and they all knew what it was like to work hard."
ALL BUT THE SQUEAL
Babbie left the farm scene in Champlain and bought acreage in Peru. The museum dream took root when he sold that farm, bought some horses and donkeys and built a few barns next door.
Babbie, 73, always on the lookout for the next museum attraction, has often spotted a farm building falling into disrepair, rescued it and moved it to his museum land.
"So far, we have my grandmother's chicken coop, a granary, a milk house, a horse and cow barn and a corncrib, brought here from other places," said Lance.
"My uncle just couldn't pass by a forgotten building and see it fall down."
Lance pointed out that his grandmother loved her chickens and that the coop has a special place in the family's heart. In true rural style, "Meme" didn't only keep the chickens for eggs but used every part of the chicken: the meat for meals, the feathers for beds and pillows, the bones to grind for fertilizer.
"There was very little waste on a farm," said Brett. "One man visited the museum and said that was the same with the pigs. He said they used everything on the pig but the squeal."
COUNTRY HUMOR
Lance and Brett had their own humorous moments when they were young farmers in 4-H and at the county fair. They confess to "educating" the city folks with country humor.
"When we'd be at the fair, we'd tell the city folks that to milk a cow, you grab the tail and pump the milk out," Brett said, laughing.
"We'd tell them that chocolate milk came from the brown cows and strawberry from the reddish cows," added Lance.
"We were just a bunch of farm kids having fun."
SHATTERED BOULDERS
Lance, a farrier who runs the blacksmith shop, said he enjoys talking to the visitors and learning from them.
"They tell us things we don't know," he added. "Like how they moved big boulders out of the fields by building a hot fire under the boulder, then pouring cold water over it to make it shatter into a million pieces."
The main museum building houses antiquities. Starting with an ice-cream dry-ice box, Audrey explains how each household item was used and, in many cases, who in the Babbie family used it.
A shiny cook stove that held many a hot wood fire and many good-smelling pies leads to a personal family gallery of photographs.
"I think it makes all these items more personal if you know who used them," Audrey said, gesturing toward hand utensils and wooden washing machines.
"This is the way they lived."
BORN TOO LATE
The backbone of the farm had to be the animals. At Babbie's, two Haflinger light draft horses, Willy and Chilly, brother and sister, will be trained soon to pull the stagecoach. Miniature donkeys Sally, Jigger and BB can be coaxed out of their barn with a handful of juicy green grass. Meme's chicken coop now houses Rhode Island Red and Buff Cochin chickens that run for the fence when Brett gives them a grass treat.
Everyone involved in the programs and management of the museum site shares in Babbie's dream.
To Brett, days spent at the farm museum are like stepping back.
"I've been told I was born 100 years too late," he said of his love for old-time farming. "I say I was born 150 years too late. My uncle has worked hard here, and I'm glad to be part of it all coming together."
Email Susan Tobias at:
mcgibby57@charter.net
PERU — Leeward Babbie always wanted to share his love of old-fashioned farm life with the younger generation.
His hard work, determination and hands-on help from family have given the Champlain native his wish.
Babbie Rural & Farm Learning Museum covers five acres of prime farmland on River Road in Peru. Located adjacent to the farm Babbie owned from 1961 to 2002, he has built a miniature farm site and museum to show young people what it took in earlier years to work the land.
A true family affair, the activities and programs are implemented by his sister, Audrey Falcon, and her sons, Brett and Lance Falcon. Friend and volunteer Sharron Morrow acts as treasurer and serves on the Board of Trustees.
"My uncle grew up on the family farm in Champlain," said Brett, also a board member. "My Meme and Pepe were Cyrille and Bertha LaValley Babbie, and they all knew what it was like to work hard."
ALL BUT THE SQUEAL
Babbie left the farm scene in Champlain and bought acreage in Peru. The museum dream took root when he sold that farm, bought some horses and donkeys and built a few barns next door.
Babbie, 73, always on the lookout for the next museum attraction, has often spotted a farm building falling into disrepair, rescued it and moved it to his museum land.
"So far, we have my grandmother's chicken coop, a granary, a milk house, a horse and cow barn and a corncrib, brought here from other places," said Lance.
"My uncle just couldn't pass by a forgotten building and see it fall down."
Lance pointed out that his grandmother loved her chickens and that the coop has a special place in the family's heart. In true rural style, "Meme" didn't only keep the chickens for eggs but used every part of the chicken: the meat for meals, the feathers for beds and pillows, the bones to grind for fertilizer.
"There was very little waste on a farm," said Brett. "One man visited the museum and said that was the same with the pigs. He said they used everything on the pig but the squeal."
COUNTRY HUMOR
Lance and Brett had their own humorous moments when they were young farmers in 4-H and at the county fair. They confess to "educating" the city folks with country humor.
"When we'd be at the fair, we'd tell the city folks that to milk a cow, you grab the tail and pump the milk out," Brett said, laughing.
"We'd tell them that chocolate milk came from the brown cows and strawberry from the reddish cows," added Lance.
"We were just a bunch of farm kids having fun."
SHATTERED BOULDERS
Lance, a farrier who runs the blacksmith shop, said he enjoys talking to the visitors and learning from them.
"They tell us things we don't know," he added. "Like how they moved big boulders out of the fields by building a hot fire under the boulder, then pouring cold water over it to make it shatter into a million pieces."
The main museum building houses antiquities. Starting with an ice-cream dry-ice box, Audrey explains how each household item was used and, in many cases, who in the Babbie family used it.
A shiny cook stove that held many a hot wood fire and many good-smelling pies leads to a personal family gallery of photographs.
"I think it makes all these items more personal if you know who used them," Audrey said, gesturing toward hand utensils and wooden washing machines.
"This is the way they lived."
BORN TOO LATE
The backbone of the farm had to be the animals. At Babbie's, two Haflinger light draft horses, Willy and Chilly, brother and sister, will be trained soon to pull the stagecoach. Miniature donkeys Sally, Jigger and BB can be coaxed out of their barn with a handful of juicy green grass. Meme's chicken coop now houses Rhode Island Red and Buff Cochin chickens that run for the fence when Brett gives them a grass treat.
Everyone involved in the programs and management of the museum site shares in Babbie's dream.
To Brett, days spent at the farm museum are like stepping back.
"I've been told I was born 100 years too late," he said of his love for old-time farming. "I say I was born 150 years too late. My uncle has worked hard here, and I'm glad to be part of it all coming together."
Email Susan Tobias at:
mcgibby57@charter.net
