Dover Days

Picture this … barbecue, games, prizes, huge inflatable race track and wrecking ball, many cool stands and much, much more comprise  Dover Days! This event is held yearly in late September. The Old Couples Club established the fair 35 years ago for new families moving into town. The club only sponsored the festival for ten years and then handed it over to the Dover Park and Rec. Department, who have been organizing the festival for the past 25 years.

Did you know that the Dover Park and Rec has booths for almost anything? Some of the stands include bedazzled rings Image of Jar of Honey.and sparkly  necklaces, cool sports cards, intriguing toys, and food items such as jam, honey, and trail mix.

The scent of barbacue wafted up our noses as we walked past the scrumptious looking foods sitting on the table, such as juicy burgers, grilled hot dogs, smoked sausages, bags of crispy chips, and cold, refreshing sodas. The cool brain freezing slushies trickled down our throats while we were slurping them down to fast.

My eyes widened as I stared in disbelief at the twisting, turning lines at the incredible bouncy houses. Each of the three bouncy houses were different. One was a giant inflatable race track for kids. Another, was a giant blow-up wrecking ball hanging from the top of the ceiling with a chain and four inflatable platforms below. What you want to do is stand on a platform and push on the ball to try to knock other players off of their platforms. The last one is a normal bouncy house where you can have fun catching some air while jumping and bouncing around!

Dover Days is an event to watch for each September, so don’t miss it!

Reported by Aiden, Sierra, and Ford

Dr. Hildebrand presents Colonial Music

TWING … TWANG … TWUNG … went the sound of the harpsichord. A  gentleman was seated at the harpsichord, wearing Colonial attire. Once we were seated, he introduced himself as Dr. Hildebrand.

Before he performed a song, he would tell us the history and its backstory. He played Yankee DoodleA Toast, and other songs. He sang other verses of Yankee Doodle that we were unfamiliar to us, but we quickly caught on and sang along. HeDr. Hildebrand playing the harpsichord. also showed us you can easily make your own custom verse to the song like others have done. And for A Toast, he told us about how, in the 1700’s, people would want to clang their mugs together with a gentleman and it was called a “Toast”. Over the years people put different lyrics to many colonial tunes such as, Yankee Doodle and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. All the 4th graders in the room were very interested.

The children were very fascinated with his music and materials. He not only played the harpsichord but also performed music on an array of other beautiful Colonial instruments: the Banjo, the Piccolo, Lute, and a Mandolin. Dr. Hildebrand told us about the designs of the instruments which had round and smooth surfaces with different shapes and sizes. After explaining each of the instruments, Dr. Hildebrand claimed, “My voice is my favorite musical instrument”. We were all blown away!

Dr. Hildebrand told us that he wanted to create this performance because it was a great way to learn history through music rather than books, dates, and people. We were curious to learn if he only worked with schools. He informed us that after leaving Chickering School, he was headed to Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, the US Constitution Museum in Boston, and Newport, Rhode Island where he was not instructing but playing his musical instruments. He loves working with children and sharing his love of music.

Reported by Cyrus and Katana

Let’s Dig It!

Rocks + Minerals + Hands-on = an amazing program called Dig It!

Dig It! is a program that teaches children all about rocks and minerals. You can dig through the sand and keep minerals that you find, you can identify different rocks and minerals, and learn much more! So, why don’t we get digging? Let’s dig it!

Image of mineralsDig It! is a program from a group called Science Made Fun.com, which teaches you about the types of rocks and properties for different minerals. This group travels around to many different schools, one of them is Chickering School! For two days a person from Dig It! came. Her name is Katie. She came to the different 4th grade classrooms in Chickering School. This program takes about a hour and a half. It starts with basic geology then moves on to introducing the specific rocks and minerals.
Katie showed us many things, like a model of the earth.  The model came apart and showed a cross section of the different layers of the earth. She also discussed the Rock Cycle. The Rock Cycle is the process of how rocks are formed. Katie told us about how all the earth’s continents were once connected. This large continent was called Pangaea. She taught us about the earth and how we need rocks for all different reasons. Rocks play an important role. Two reasons are: we need rocks to keep the oceans  from flowing into the center of the earth. The other reason is we need rocks for keeping the magma inside the earth. She also taught us there are three 3 types of rocks: Sedimentary, Igneous, and Metamorphic. She even brought one example of each.

All of the students’ favorite activity was to work with soil, like a geologist, and digging. The most exciting part about this program, is Image of container with soil and rocks and mineralsthat we get to dig! Each student received a cup of dirt with minerals buried with in it. On a tray, you received from Katie, the students shook the trays of dirt  and when you find a mineral you would put it on a paper towel. With the discovered minerals, on the paper towel, the students sort their minerals by color,shine (luster), hardness and magnetism. Next, the put their minerals in a bag and get to bring them home! Pretty cool!

In 4th grade, there is a teacher who teaches rock and minerals named Mrs.McLaughlin. She is the one who requested this program. Mrs.McLaughlin likes it because it gives the fourth graders a good understanding of rocks and minerals before the children come to her. She also likes it because it goes along with her rocks and mineral unit.

We know that this program not only is fun, but also it teaches children about rocks and minerals. This program is hands-on and awesome!

Reported by Olivia and Bethany

Fun Filled Fair

When people entered the town center, they heard laughter, screaming, conversations, and drifting through the air were Children playing limbo at Dover Daysdelicious BBQ smells. Dover Days is an annual fair that usually occurs on the second Saturday in September. On 21st of September, the day started off cloudy and by noon it was sunny and warm. All around the town common could be seen booths, children’s activities, games, food, and people of all ages having fun.

Dover Days is a fantastic festival that is great for all ages. There was a variety of good food and drink. At the local Legion, hot dogs, hamburgers and cheeseburgers were grilling on the barbecue. Captain Martin’s Cod Squad offered lobster rolls, fish and chips, and other items from his truck.  For dessert, several booths served Italian ice, ice cream, and other tasty treats for purchase. In addition to delicious food, there were items to purchase including sand art, honey and jam, plants, gift baskets, and toys. This year, missing was the popular “Make a Cupcake” booth, which was a disappointment to many. Once you were filled with yummy food, there were lots of entertaining activities and games for kids.

Purple, pink, and yellow racing bouncy houseChildren’s activities were located on the green near the Town Library. There were multiple types of bouncy houses, always a favorite. One kind was an obstacle course where you raced an opponent to the finish line. The wrecking ball was a new one this year, which involved a ball that you can throw at your friends to knock them over. An all time favorite, was the normal jumping around bouncy house. These bright and colorful inflatable houses helped add a festive feel and were a big hit.

The hayride was a favorite activity made for everyone. A large green farm tractor was pulling a flatbed trailer with wooden rail walls filled with hay bales. People enjoyed waving to friends and family as they traveled around the center of town. Chickering School’s Parent Teacher Organization [PTO]  sponsored games for kids.You purchased tickets, which allowed you to choose from a variety of games: Plinko, ring toss, limbo, duck pond, basketball hoop, and spin the wheel. If you played and won, you received tokens. You could cash in tokens for prizes. Another favorite activity was the dunk tank. People could not wait to get a chance to hit the target that would dunk Dr. Reinemann, our Assistant Principal, Officer Harry, and other unlucky, parent volunteers: Mr. Stocks, Mr. Olmstead, Mr. Townsend, Mr. Hill, Mr. Cook, Mr. Johnstone, and Mr. Alpers. There was something for everyone.

An extraordinary thing about Dover Days is that it happens every year rain or shine. Now that you know that Dover Days has many fun things like bouncy houses, games, booths to purchase items, a Dunk Tank, and Hayride, you will want to mark your calendar for the second Saturday in September, 2014. The town’s residents are already counting down the days till all the fun begins again.

Reported by Ben, Sam, and Tommy