Thursday, March 19, 2009

Bayside Historical Society

W went on a cool trip to the Bayside Historical Society in Queens. The area called Willets Point was bought by the US Army in 1857 and they built Fort Totten. It was used by the military for over a hundred years for so many different purposes (army hospital, training base, underwater technology testing area, and in 1944 it was named headquarters of the North Atlantic region of the Air Transport Command. It finally closed in 1995. The Society's mission is to preserve the rich history of the Fort and the surrounding area of Bayside. Yesterday they conducted a living history class based in 1906. The girls got to wear long dresses, hats and gloves and the boys got to put on sailor suits, complete with neckerchief and knickers (W preferred to remain in his jeans, thank you). They kids ate finger sandwiches (I wonder whose fingers they used, hah hah hah) and chose their own tea bags for tea. W remembered a lot of what was said and really enjoyed it.

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