LAHM Summer Camp held Rendezvous at the Fur Trade Interpretive Cabin

By Emma Palova - Contributing Writer

17 August 2025

From dying t-shirts in onion skins to making pouches from deer hides, this year’s Lowell Area Historical Museum’s (LAHM) summer campers and volunteers enjoyed beautiful weather, as they embarked on various Early Settlers’ adventures in the Lowell Township’s Grand River Park.

The “Rendezvous” theme of LAHM’s Summer Camp 2025 was perfect for the setting inside the Betty Yeiter Interpretive Fur Trade Cabin.

“Each year, a different theme is created for the camp,” Museum Director Lisa Plank said. “This year we chose to focus on the fur trade era. Some years, we have held the camp at the Fallasburg Historic Village.”

The fur trade cabin was envisioned as a place to share the significant history of the trade in the Lowell area with the public, according to Plank. “The youth summer camp is a perfect example of how this space can be used to share history,” Plank said.

The campers could choose two activities from dipping candles, designing a model canoe, dying shirts with natural dyes and making leather pouches. All campers, ages eight to 14, also participated in a scavenger hunt, throughout the Grand River Park, located behind Walgreen’s.

The camp was put on by LAHM’s Education Director, Luanne Kaeb, assisted by volunteers Jeanne Amos, Denice Barker, Laurie Larsen, Kim Lum, Anita Roth and Joy Zaagman. Kaeb gave a talk about the trade, how it worked and how Lowell was involved.

“We have held several workshops each year with different themes,” Kaeb said. These included Native American crafts, Civil War era activities, Pioneer crafts, Colonial Days activities, Victorian crafts, Crafts from Around the World, Swiss Settlers’ activities, Irish Settlers’ activities, A Day in Fallasburg Village, Discover Lowell, and this year – Rendezvous at the Fur Trade Interpretive Cabin.

During the COVID year of 2021, a take-out Summer Camp was put together. Materials and instructions were mailed to students to make their own Shoebox trading post, canoe from a kit, and Metis Dot Art.

But the most memorable workshop occurred at the Wittenbach Center in 2011, when one of the workshop projects, Shop Art, was to design and weld weather vanes (Americana). The smoke from welding set off the fire alarm and the fire engines came, according to Kaeb. “When the fire fighters looked in, they said, ‘Oh, It’s only Mr. Kaeb.’ He was teaching the class but had also been the High School Shop teacher. We teach hands-on history,” said Kaeb.

The museum uses grant funding to help support the summer camp program. This year the grant funding was provided by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. In past years, The Lowell Rotary Club has provided grant funding, as well. The museum works with Lowell Township and the Fallasburg Historical Society for the camp locations.

“We hope that the campers learned about the fur trade, something about life in the past, and learning about history is fun,” Plank said. “It is vital that our past gets shared with each generation. The museum offers a wide range of education programs for local schools. The summer camp is another fun way to bring our history alive to a younger generation.”

The Lowell Area Historical Museum offers a camp each summer. It is advertised on the museum website, social media and direct email list. To be added to the email list, parents can email the museum at lplank@lowellmuseum.org

The Lowell Area Historical Museum offers free admission to Lowell citizens the first Thursday of each month in recognition of citizen support of the millage that helps support museum operations.

The Lowell Area Historical Museum is located at 325 W. Main Street, in the historical district of Lowell. Phone 616-897-7688, history@lowellmuseum.org

The museum is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment.