By SYLVIA BENAVIDEZ
Contributing Writer
Mothers did not have a lack of places to go this Mother’s Day weekend in Albion or Marshall. Saturday in Albion, mothers could attend the Albion Historical Society’s annual Mother’s Day Tea at the Gardner House Museum. New this year, were historical talks from Albion District Library’s archivist Jesse Yaeger. One of her presentations included bringing around a block of tea. During colonial times to the present, tea was shipped in blocks and then scraped off to steep.
“Tea was a domestic drink and often drunk in the home. It was a preferred drink of women… women were very integral in the boycott of tea… they were the ones purchasing it for home and during the Revolution is when they switched over to drinking more coffee, and they created herbal tinctures which we now know as herbal tea,” said Yaeger.
Barbara Sehnert Lange, Albion, relived a small part of her personal history. The Gardner House Museum uses her donated teacups at the Mother’s Day tea. “These teacups are my mother’s,” said Lange. “We lived in Calgary, Alberta from 1955 to 1964 and she was very taken with the British traditions and hospitality as well as British elegance. She collected over a dozen teacups. Some of them went to my sister-in-law, and some went to my daughter. Some came to me, and now they have come to the Gardner House Museum.”
Lange donated them a couple of years ago so that they would be treasured. When Lange came to her assigned table for the tea Saturday, she saw that they used her mother’s teacups. “My surprise when I walked and saw that these were all my mom’s cups and then I started looking around to see who else got mom’s cups. It’s just nice to know that they have use because they were in a cupboard and I would not be using these.”
In Marshall, Saturday and Sunday, mothers could dress up in Renaissance clothing, hear traditional music, watch sword fights, and enjoy crafts from that era at the Royal Stagg Renaissance Faire.
Carson Botta, Battle Creek, shared, “We haven’t been to the Renaissance, and I have always wanted to go to one. So, when I heard of one in the Calhoun County Fairgrounds, I was like that is super close we should go. As a family, I wanted to do it.”
When asked if she would like to be a mother during that time period, Botta said, ““I like modern day things. I like modern stuff like being able to go to food trucks, getting our face painted. I do like the music so that would have been good in the Renaissance time, but I do like modern day festivities.” Botta shared what she liked about it. “I like the dressing up and the culture behind it.”
Madelyn Corn, Dowling, Michigan, has been to several Renaissance Fairs and celebrating Mother’s Day at the Faire seemed a natural fit. She also enjoys the history, crafts, and watching everyone do their own thing. “I just like to spend time with my kids and do fun things with them and give them as many experiences as I can,” she said.
Bunny Fox, event coordinator for the Stagg Renaissance Faire, said the owner, Casey, is from Marshall and that they were both pleased at the turnout. She shared, “I am tickled. Marshall showed up. Marshall sold two of my food vendors out. I cannot express the level of gratitude I am for, gas is $5.00 per gallon and people are still coming.”
