Rekindling a tradition lost in recent years, the Seven Eagles Trading Post is opening business on Saturdays to sell unique souvenirs from early Ohio and Native American tribes that include arrowheads, tomahawks, and metal work.
The 1,500-square-foot trading post, which is within the Seven Eagles Earth Center on Wapokoneta Road, has been open on a limited basis for four years, but organizers from the Arts Council Lake Erie West are working to rebuild the store and bring customers back after a change in management at the shop.
"It's such a unique place," said Martin Nagy, the executive director of the nonprofit council that promotes artistic community programs.
The 40-acre Seven Eagles Earth Center, which opened in 1984, features a snapshot of life in Ohio between 1740 and 1850. It includes historical, ecological, cultural, and artistic resources and exhibits designed to take visitors back in time. Exhibits include a Native American village with a longhouse and two wigwams, as well as a log cabin and replica stagecoach.
"You can experience history first-hand," Mr. Nagy said.
The center regularly hosts student and community groups for field trips, overnight camping, or environmental training. It offers arts and crafts and tours hosted by re-enactors.
Mr. Nagy said the center's land has been protected, making it a safe haven for rare species.
No pollutants are used on the Earth Center's grounds, allowing for the survival of Blanchard cricket frogs, which live in a pond on the property.
For 13 years, Gretchen Bechtel has taken her preschool students at St. Rose in Perrysburg to visit the center.
"It is like you are going back in time," she said. "You don't see any cars, any roads. You don't even see telephone wires. The pond, the cabin, the longhouse, all of the great big oak trees - it is such a neat experience for the children to see what it is like to live 150 years ago."
Ms. Bechtel, who has visited the trading post, said it offers people a rare chance to find realistic souvenirs.
"It is neat to share that with children," she said. "It is really nice that they have some place to go and purchase these things."
The trading post will be open each Saturday until Christmas from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The center is at 16486 Wapakoneta Rd., about a mile south of State Rt. 65 in downtown Grand Rapids.
Contact Steve Eder at: seder@theblade.com or 419-724-6728.
First Published November 29, 2004, 11:30 a.m.
