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Press Release 09/05/06 “Big Rock Events Weave Family and History Together” Spinning, plowing and storytelling have one thing in common: you will find all these happening in Big Rock on September 16th at both Esther’s Place and the Big Rock Plowing Match! Big Rock, nestled between Aurora and Dekalb on Highway 30, is a quaint farming community with a rich history and promising future. Established in the mid-nineteenth century by Welsh immigrants, remnants of their heritage can still be found in the community. Spinning, weaving and knitting were all pastimes of the community, lovingly cherished by the farm women and proudly shared in church groups, women’s meetings and fairs. These traditional arts were the basis of their social lives, and their strength in the hard times that often faced farm families of that era. Today, Esther’s Place is a sanctuary for the arts of past. In the heart of Big Rock, and housed in a beautiful Victorian-era home, Esther’s Place offers a peaceful setting for classes and retreats in knitting, spinning, weaving, felting and dyeing. But more than that, they bring the past to life in a way that is relevant to today. On Saturday, September 16th, their first annual “Spin In” strives to accomplish that goal with a family-oriented day of fun, heritage and learning! From 10 am – 4 pm, kids can come and make a felting project to take home or listen to storytelling, another art resurrected from a time past. Music, refreshments, door prizes and demonstrations will enliven the day and deepen your appreciation for the things of yesteryear. Other spinners, weavers, knitters and fiber artists are invited to come, bring their project and join them for a few hours to sit and mingle while enjoying their art. Esther’s Place owner, Natasha Lehrer explains their philosophy, “We want history to be very much real to those who come to Esther’s Place. To us, spinning, weaving and other arts like that can have their place in both the past and in today’s world. Our classes, creative ideas, encouragement and warm environment all speak of that refreshing link to a simpler time, and they help us connect to the past in a really neat way.” Lehrer believes Esther’s Place plays an important role in keeping Big Rock firmly rooted in the past. Also happening that weekend is the 112th Big Rock Plowing Match, one of the last of such events remaining in this area. Three quarters of a century ago, plowing matches consumed much of the September month for plowmen, who traveled to Plainfield, Naperville, Lily Lake and Big Rock to compete in these events. Ladies cooked food and organized fairs in which their best vegetables, canned and baked goods and needle work were meticulously displayed and awarded upon merit. The whole community gathered together for a time of fun and festivities! Men plowed with horses, tractors and two bottom plows; not for speed, but for skill and uniformity. This tradition started on farms of Big Rock farmers, and eventually found a permanent location on Hinckley Road. Plowman’s Park, a shady sanctuary and the central point for the activities, houses the children’s and ladies’ fair, the delicious farm meals, horse show, craft fair, carnival, miniature locomotive route, and much, much more. Within walking distance or a short ride on the haywagon, one will find the plowmen hard at work sculpting their plots into prizewinning accomplishments. Strolling along, many kinds of tractors and plows can be found; a minute of conversation with a stander-by reveals the stories of the silent iron. History is alive and well, being passed down from the old to the young here in Big Rock. Big Rock is something special. Lehrer shares this, “Things change so quickly today. Coming to Big Rock is a little stepping back into the past for a moment.” Make that moment Saturday September 16 and join them for the Esther’s Place “Spin In” and the 112th Big Rock Plowing Match! For more information or directions, contact Esther’s Place at 630-556-9665 or on the web at www.esthersplacefibers.com/links.cfm or http://www.villageofbigrock-il.us/PLO_001F.HTM .
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