“Mistress” Patty Graves looked up from the bowl of blueberries and tray of sliced apples to listen to a faraway rumble in a darkening sky. Although still at a distance, she worried a summer storm might interrupt campers preparing blueberry pudding pie and apple crisp Wednesday, July 15, during history camp at the Matthew Curtiss House on Main Street.

But while hazy sunshine persisted, Mistress Graves and other docents enjoyed the afternoon cooking, with the large kitchen fireplace lit and waiting. Senior docent Mike Asselta felt the day was “fantastic,” with the morning and afternoon sessions filled as children relived a bit of the past. That day they had strolled the back birder gardens identifying herbs, and on various days churned butter, made ice cream, and fresh lemonade.

Docent Melissa Houston sat on the fieldstone stoop and watched as docent Mairin Hayes worked with sliced apples, piling them into a baking dish. Reading directions to her were campers including Anna Metzker, Ryan Ward, Emma Hannah, Grace Zatulskis, Conrad Chapman, and Connor Troy. At another table working with blueberries and greasing an aluminum bake pan were Jocelyn Bazuro, Julia Wologodzew, Jeffrey Hanna, and AJ Zatulskis. AJ stirred the blueberries before spilling them into the greased dish. Docent Erik Benson had worked with those campers to prepare their dessert.

And like the ice cream they would make Friday and the lemonade on Thursday, Mr Asselta joked that they would have to force them to eat it all, really “twisting their arms” with the ice cream.

According to the Newtown Historical Society’s Facebook page, “This unique camp gives modern-day children the opportunity to explore the life of a colonial child living in Newtown back in 1750 through lots of hands-on activities as well as interactive lectures, discussions and demonstrations.”