The main house, built in 1892 in the Queen Anne style, and now home to BRI's offices and the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead museum.                   Bloomington Restorations, Inc. Partners with Writing Unlimited We are pleased to announce a newly developing partnership between Bloomington Restorations, Inc. and a local educational non-profit called Writing Unlimited. Over the past five years, members of Writing Unlimited have created educational programming for Bloomington elementary and middle school students through writing circles, writing workshops, and summer camps. In the new partnership, Writing Unlimited and BRI are collaborating to create an awareness and appreciation about historic preservation for the youth of Monroe County through a grant called “We All Make a Difference: Inspiration through Historic Preservation.” This partnership has been made possible by a Historic Preservation Grant from the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for the Indiana Humanities Council and the National Endowment of the Arts.  The projects funded by the historic preservation grant will involve the creation of curriculum units through meetings and interviews with BRI staff and volunteers as well as through research at the Monroe County History Center, the Indiana Room at the Monroe County Public Library, and on-line resources. The focus of the curriculum will be on local history with an emphasis on individuals who have made courageous choices in their lives, resulting in a stronger community. Local historic structures will be used as the inspiration to tell the stories of strong community leaders, both past and present. The importance of learning about history and supporting historic preservation will be emphasized throughout the lessons, along with a standards-based focus on language arts.  The following topics will be the subjects for the curriculum units:  1) Challenges of Farm Life Past and Present in Monroe County; 2) African American History in Monroe County; 3) Everyday Heroes in Monroe County; 4) Strong Women of Monroe County. Workshops for students ages eight through fourteen will take place at the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead during the 2008-2009 school year on each of these topics. During the workshops, students will learn about local history as well as planning and carrying out community service projects which will benefit local non-profit organizations. The workshops and curriculum development will be coordinated by Michelle Henderson, Director of Writing Unlimited.      In June, members of Writing Unlimited began developing historic preservation curriculum during two summer camp sessions at the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead. The camp was called “Sisters of the Flying Fountain Pen,” and it was for girls ages 8-13 years. The camps promoted leadership skills, an understanding of local history, and age-appropriate work in expanding enjoyment of writing.     The focus of the first session was on strong women throughout history, with an emphasis on women who have had a positive impact on our own community and beyond. Camp participants were encouraged to recognize their own strengths and to visualize how they could use their talents to work for a better community and world.  The second session focused on the stories that everyone has to tell. Local history was explored through stories from various sources, and there was an emphasis on the ways that strong individuals, both men and women, have made changes for the better through their actions. The Writing Unlimited camp was facilitated by Michelle Henderson, Wendy Walter-Bailey, and Michele Brentano. All three are local educators with many years of experience working with young writers.    We were lucky to have some extremely talented guest speakers to inform and inspire the girls during camp:  Carrie Newcomer came over to the Farmstead to talk about combining inspiring ideas and words with music and she sang her song “A Woman and a Shovel” from the recently released Wilderness Plots CD; Sophia Travis discussed the different elements of her life that have combined to create her identity including her ethnic background, her dedication to creating a better community through her participation on the County Council, and her love of music (and she gave every girl a CD of her beautiful songs!); Arbutus Cunningham from WFHB read a story and discussed the process of writing and telling stories; Jean Mackey was the first woman hired to do pharmaceutical research by Eli Lilly during World War II. She came over from Bell Trace to share some memories and insights about her life with the girls. Special thanks to Danielle Bachant-Bell and Jody Perkins, both BRI volunteers, who came in to talk about the Farmstead and Daisy Garton’s life. In addition to the wonderful guests that the girls enjoyed, the Bloomington Bagel Company donated bagels for a delicious snack! During each camp session, the girls wrote about what they were learning and reflecting upon. Writings were shared at the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead Open Day on July 26, 2008, during the centennial celebration of Daisy Hinkle-Garton’s birth, including a cake and other refreshments. Many thanks to everyone who came to join us as we celebrated Daisy, her vision for historic preservation education, and the exciting opportunities for our community that will be possible through the historic preservation education grant entitled “We All Make a Difference:  Inspiration through Historic Preservation.”