Celebrating history
A century of national historic sites in Canada was celebrated at Green Gables Heritage Place on Saturday
Caleb MacNevin, 3, of Charlottetown couldn’t get enough of the homemade ice cream at Green Gables Heritage Place on Saturday.
Caleb, his sister Elena, 5, and parents Adelee and Phil went on a family excursion to Cavendish to take part in a fun-filled day at Green Gables Heritage Place in celebration of the 100th anniversary of national historic sites in Canada.
“He kept going back to turn the handle,” laughs Adelee. “He wanted to keep helping them and getting involved in making the ice cream.”
Green Gables was a busy spot as people snapped pictures with fictional characters Anne Shirley and Diana Barry, who were dressed in their period costumes as they participated in various activities throughout the day.
Visitors were able to take part in a story time, a “My National Historic Site” arts and crafts activity, guided talks through the site and a games and race event that finished off with the freshly churned ice cream.
In addition to helping make the ice cream, the MacNevin family went for guided tour and a walk on the nature trail.
Adelee said she found the event engaging for the kids.
“For any historic site, the more interactive that they can make it I think the better.”
“I think (Parks Canada) is doing a really great job of making things engaging, interactive and a really great learning experience.”
Barbie MacKay Larkin, her husband Shaun Larkin, daughter Shealyn, 6, of Albany and niece Penelope Lincoln, 4, of Jacksonville, Fla., spent the morning at Shining Waters Fun Park before heading over to Green Gables in the afternoon.
“A lot has changed, actually, since the last time I was here,” said Barbie.
After doing a tour of the house, they saw Anne and Diana walking down a dirt path and decided to follow them.
“It was perfect timing,” said Barbie, since it led them to take part in the games, race and ice cream making part of the day.
This was the first time that Shealyn and Penelope have been to the site, and they had a wonderful time playing outside and interacting with the period characters.
The Fernandes family — parents Shalini and Alex, and daughters Alyssa, 11, and Sariaya, 4 — of Mississauga, Ont., was on P.E.I. for the first time and happened to stumble upon the celebrations. Although they intended to visit the site Saturday, they had no idea that so many kid-friendly activities would be going on throughout the afternoon.
“This was special,” said Shalini. “I’m really happy we stumbled upon this.”
Shalini read “Anne of Green Gables” as a young woman and was in awe as she walked around the grounds that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to write the book.
“It’s just absolutely phenomenal. I don’t have words to describe it.”
“It’s beautiful,” adds Alyssa. “It’s really nice to see the characters and how they just stay in character.”