Wahoo prepares for Christmas on the Prairie celebration

Buffalo Bill will be there.

So will “Yesterday’s Lady” and Loren Davidson.

All will be part of the Christmas on the Prairie celebration in Wahoo.

This marks the 20th year for the two-day event which features special speakers, musical presentations and refreshments. The public is invited to the celebration, scheduled from 2-8 p.m. Dec. 5-6 at the Saunders County Historical Society Museum. Admission is free.

The annual celebration began in 1990 when a group of people gathered with the idea of hosting a festival that would promote the museum.

“The first few years saw thousands of people and families come to Wahoo to see skills used by our pioneer families,” said Erin Hauser, museum curator.

Various buildings are situated on the museum grounds. Programs were held in the District 42 schoolhouse and Weston Presbyterian Church near the museum. Luminaries have continued to provide an accent to the event starting at dusk that Saturday and Sunday.

“With the building of the Anderson-Nelson Addition to the museum in 1994, more room was available for exhibits, decorations and programs,” Hauser stated in a press release.

As in the past, the event includes demonstrations of crafts and old-time chores -- from wood carving to rope making. Several trees will be decorated for the holidays. A silent auction is planned for the event. Area residents have donated centerpieces, gift bags and baskets. Proceeds benefit the museum.

Once again, a postal cancellation is planned. Wahoo artist Crystal Vandevoorde has made the cancellation drawing. It features Santa Claus, an image of Saunders County and a list of all the years that Christmas on the Prairie has taken place.

Once again, Lincoln resident Terry Lane will portray the army scout turned celebrity, Buffalo Bill Cody. His performance starts at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the main museum.

Born in Iowa, in 1848, Cody later became a scout for the U.S. Army. Cody became famous when he became a central character in dime store novels.

Buffalo Bill had a lengthy stage career. He took his first Wild West Show to Europe in 1874. It was the first of three jaunts, Lane told the Tribune in 2008.

Besides listening to Lane’s program, visitors can take a trip back in time on Dec. 6 when Sue McClain presents “A Century of Fashion” by Yesterday’s Lady in the main museum.

Guests who enjoy music should be treated to a variety of tunes during the event. Piano students will perform at 2 p.m. that Saturday and the St. Wenceslaus Organ Choir, accompanied by Gladys Cajka, performs at 2:30 p.m. that Sunday, both in the church.

Don Daniels will provide Czech music at 7 p.m. Saturday and Loren Davidson will play country music from 4-5:30 p.m. Sunday, both in the main museum. Various other groups also will perform during the event.

The festival also will feature a quilt show from 2-8 p.m. that Saturday and Sunday in the upper level of Union Bank & Trust Co., 328 W. Third St., in Wahoo. Admission is free.

Other features include:

* Craft demonstrations -- 2-4:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in the main museum. Inside the meeting room, visitors can see various demonstrations including: cookie decorating, refurbishing player piano rolls, wood carving, clothespin doll making, crocheting rugs and working the treadle sewing machine.

* Demonstration of old-time chores (weather permitting) -- that Saturday and Sunday in the machine building. They include: blacksmithing, hand corn shelling, corn grinding, rope making and wood sawing.

Hauser hopes area residents will attend the event.

“It gets you in the Christmas mood and it’s a family event,” she said. “It’s a free event. In this economy, that’s hard to beat.”