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"2,500 school kids from 54 different preschools, elementary schools and home school groups will be venturing to Ikenberry's farm in western Botetourt this fall in a six week period," announced Gwen Ikenberry, the family representative on hand to  greet the children. On Monday morning October 5, 79 of the students came from Greenfield Elementary School to learn about apples, pumpkins, colonial life in a cabin and to go on a hayride and view nature while hearing interesting facts about flora and fauna that one might find in the orchard. That trip also included six color associated coordinated scarecrows with pumpkin heads. Olivia Turner, a student in Mrs. Godsey's kindergarten class announced "I like the scarecrow Olivia Orange best,"-- naturally!

Indeed, the Standards of Learning are reinforced  with a trip to the Ikenberry farm and orchard off Haymakertown Road. Gwen Ikneberry asked some of her friends to help teach at the Apple classroom, the Pumpkin classroom and the cabin. Her cousin, Paul Craft drove the hayride tractor and her husband's aunt, Jean Craft helped guide students from the hayride to the cabin and the well oiled operation even had a bell ringing to announce the time limit on each classroom.

The circa 1790 cabin had its own historic Interpretor, Mrs. Kip Burton, dressed in Colonial garb who described a typical home arrangement for a young child in 1790. She talked about how different the times were then and schools were a luxury on the frontier, so most children were taught by their mothers.

Appropriately, the children sat on apple crates in each of the classrooms since Ikneberry's is known for apples and peaches! Cindy Bailey even taught the children a finger play about 5 Little Pumpkins sitting on a Gate in her Pumpkin classroom.

After visiting all four learning stations, the students, parents and teachers had bag lunches under the shade of walnut and other hard trees next to the historic cabin. Thus ended a beautiful day on the historic acreage  that invited the youngsters to take a step back into yesteryear as well as learn about agriculture, plants and animals.