Hands on History returns after three years away

Hands on History, a long-running event put on for local youth by the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Foundation, will be returning, after three years away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Event co-chairs Claudia Howard and Cindy Lamb said the event features 20 activities ranging from beading, to leathercraft, to instruments and an Atlatl cost.

Howard said one of the big themes of the event is to let children make something with their own hands that they are able to take home.

She said a lot of young people don’t really understand how much work had to go into creating things further back in history, and these activities will allow them to learn while having fun making something.

“Learn and do,” she said.

She said they’ll also have a number of exhibits about things like old rotary phones, railroad communications and even ancient pictographs.

However, Howard said, the big one will be their dinosaur exhibit with Montana State University-Northern professor Vicki Clouse, a local fossil hunter and dinosaur educator.

Lamb said she was talking to a young boy just the other day who couldn’t believe that Havre had its very own fossil hunter, and that they were a woman.

“‘Oh, there’s not a dinosaur digger in Havre.’ he said to me. ‘There certainly is,’ I said, ‘And you know what else?’ And he goes, ‘What?’ I said. ‘It’s a lady.’” she said. “‘No, girls don’t dig dinosaurs,’ he said. He couldn’t believe it.’”

Lamb and Howard said they hope they see that young man on Saturday at Clouse’s exhibit.

Lamb said Howard won’t take credit for it, but she’s put a tremendous amount of work into the railroad exhibit, channeling the pride she felt for her husband, a longtime railroad worker.

She also said they will have a lot of old-fashioned games like hopscotch, pick up sticks, jacks and marbles.

This will be the first time the event is held in the Boys & Girls Club and Howard and Lamb said they’ve been great to work with and it’s a perfect spot for them.

They also said they’ve had a lot of great volunteers, including older children who are going to help guide younger ones through some of the exhibits and activities, which will be new for them as organizers.

They said they wanted to thank everyone, including the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Board, Northern Montana Hospital and their families for reaching out to find so many volunteers for them.

Howard and Lamb have been working on event organizing together since the ’90s — despite one being a Griz and another being a Bobcat — but this is the first time they’ve worked directly together on this event and they’re excited that this year it’s totally free.

The event had never been pricey, with tickets to each event rarely costing more than 50 cents, but Howard and Lamb said they’ve always wanted to see the event free for everyone, which might draw some people off the street as well.

They also said that while the event is geared toward the 4- to 12-year-old demographic, people of any age are sure to learn something and they encourage everyone interested to come see what they have in store.