Inspiration
The Birthplace Of Helen Keller
Ivy Green, her birthplace and childhood home, is a fully restored house museum open to the public.
By Josephine Matyas, F468364
Who couldn’t use a little inspiration? Inspiration and the goose bumps that come with it can be found in spades by visiting Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscumbia, Alabama, which is part of The Shoals metropolitan area.
Helen Keller was born at the Ivy Green estate in Tuscumbia, Alabama. An infection left her blind and deaf as a child, but with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, she learned to communicate.
Built in 1820 by Helen’s grandfather, David Keller, the 1½-story home stayed in the Keller family for decades; its many original furnishings and personal mementos cemented its spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
The heartwarming story of Helen Keller — the blind and deaf girl who went from a dark and silent world into one of education, communication, and acceptance — began at the Keller family home. Helen was born in 1880 in the small cottage beside the main house. She was a perfectly healthy child until an infection rendered her blind and deaf at 19 months old.
Medical knowledge and practices in the late 1800s lagged far behind those of today. The Keller family had few social supports, and Helen grew into quite an unruly child. When famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell assessed her, he told the family she didn’t need a doctor — she needed a teacher.
Enter Anne Sullivan, a vision-impaired teacher who took her position with the family to instruct young Helen. She isolated herself and the girl in the small cottage and began the process of teaching Helen to communicate. Anne used her fingers to spell out words in Helen’s palm.
Just one month and two days after Anne arrived at Ivy Green came the famous breakthrough at the water pump, a story so beautifully told in the Oscar-winning film The Miracle Worker. That was the moment when Helen realized finger spelling into her hand represented words, and that first word was “w-a-t-e-r.” The famous pump — a goose-bump moment if there ever was one — sits behind the main house. By the end of that first summer, Helen had learned more than 600 words.
That thirst for knowledge — and a dedicated instructor — resulted in Helen graduating from Radcliffe College, with her instructor and lifelong companion by her side the whole time. Helen Keller; Anne Sullivan; and their secretary, Polly Thomson, are buried at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
The Miracle Worker (the play which inspired the film) is produced each summer on the Ivy Green grounds and is the official outdoor drama of Alabama. The annual Helen Keller Festival takes place on the last weekend in June all around Tuscumbia.
Now, that’s a healthy and happy dose of inspiration!
More Info
Helen Keller Birthplace
300 N. Commons St. W.
Tuscumbia, AL 35674
helenkellerbirthplace.org
(256) 383-4066
Crafts
The Gift Of Friendship
Friendship bracelet making is a compact and fun craft for RV travel.
Thanks to a love of nostalgia — and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour — the art of creating and exchanging friendship bracelets has experienced a resurgence in popularity recently. Perhaps you or your children made these as a hobby in years past. If so, now is the perfect time to brush up on your skills and share this craft with the next generation. Bracelets can be made of beads or braided/woven material. The supplies don’t take up much room, so this can be a great way to while away the hours as you travel down the highway or hang out at the campsite — even for adults!
When using beads, you can add the name of the friend you plan to give the bracelet to, or other meaningful words or phrases. A variety of bead options and other supplies are available from local craft and hobby stores or online. The end result can be as simple or as sophisticated as you like.
In the case of braided or woven bracelets, it’s common to use embroidery thread or string. Fine yarn or other material can be used also. As with beaded options, these creations can be as sim-ple or as elaborate as you wish. Countless patterns exist. Kids quickly master the easy ones. Adults, teens, and older children can create complex multicolor, multistrand bracelets using more challenging patterns.
The internet teems with how-to videos and websites offering pattern suggestions. To get started, check out this Good Housekeeping article with 20 patterns that range from beginner to advanced: bit.ly/3K59Gph.
To quote the Taylor Swift lyrics that inspired this trend at her shows: “So make the friendship bracelets. Take the moment and taste it.” Childhood, and life in general, is all too fleeting.
Sweet Travel
Beat The Summer Heat!
Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs is known for its homemade treats and also for family fun at the farm.
What says summer fun more than a dish or cone piled high with that tasty treat people are known to shout about: “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!” July just happens to be National Ice Cream Month.
So, in honor of that — and FMCA’s roots in the Buckeye State — we thought we’d introduce readers to the Ohio Ice Cream Trail. With 54 stops along the route, it would take more than the month of July to sample them all. Let’s spotlight two that are near and dear to FMCA’s headquarters city — Cincinnati.
First up is Aglamesis Bros. The company’s premium ice cream — and fine chocolates — have been tantalizing taste buds in the Queen City for well over a century. The story started in the 1800s outside Sparta, Greece, when Thomas Aglamesis left home at age 16 in search of new opportunities. He settled in Cincinnati and soon was joined by his brother. The pair learned to make ice cream while working downtown and ultimately opened their own business. Today, the third and fourth generations of the family keep the tradition going with two Cincinnati locations.
Scrumptious stops along the Ohio Ice Cream trail include Graeter’s, headquartered in Cincinnati and famous for its black raspberry chocolate chip flavor.
Say black raspberry chocolate chip to a Cincinnati native and they’ll likely respond with Graeter’s, well-known for this popular flavor. This company’s story started on the streets of Cincinnati in 1870 when Louis Charles Graeter began selling ice cream out of two carts. He married in 1900, and his wife, Regina, joined his endeavors. Today, the fourth generation continues the legacy, with multiple locations in Cincinnati and beyond. Graeter’s creates their confections using “French Pot” freezers, in which high butterfat is frozen with minimal trapped air, producing dense, creamy goodness.
These represent only two of the delectable possibilities along the Ohio Ice Cream Trail. Visit bit.ly/ohioicecream and look for a map with links to the various locations. Not planning a trip to Ohio? Type “ice cream trail” and the name of a state in your favorite internet search engine to look for other ways to help beat the summer heat with this popular frozen treat.
Mystery
See Sasquatch In Oregon
The North American Bigfoot Center in Boring, Oregon, is stocked with exhibits and memorabilia related to sasquatches.
Is Bigfoot real? Explore the possibilities at the North American Bigfoot Center in Boring, Oregon, nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
Located at the intersection of U.S. 26 and Oregon Route 212, southeast of Portland, the museum is stocked with exhibits and memorabilia that pro-sasquatch fans will say lend credence to the existence of the elusive humanoid reportedly spotted throughout North America. Even unbelievers should find the array of items entertaining.
Curator Cliff Barackman has called it “a science museum dedicated to the study of sasquatches.” Via numerous displays and audio-visual presentations, the identity and existence of the mysterious creatures are explored in a serious manner.
Museum visitors are greeted by “Murphy,” a life-sized sasquatch replica that makes a great photo op. They can examine an assortment of evidence and historical artifacts, including details about reported Bigfoot sightings, and view films to learn more about this enigma that has captivated generations.
The gift shop is stocked with hats, T-shirts, coffee mugs, metal signs — even sasquatch footprint casts — to commemorate one’s visit.
The museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and children 6 to 12, and free for kids 5 and under.
If You Go
North American Bigfoot Center
31297 S.E. U.S. 26
Boring, OR 97009
northamericanbigfootcenter.com
(503) 912-3054