Looking ready for Cupid`s arrow in their bright red outfits, the two 6th graders diligently worked on one Valentine`s Day art project after another.
”I saw this in the paper and it looked interesting,” said 12-year-old Heather Hencinski of Willowbrook during a break at the Hinsdale Historical Society`s Valentine`s Day celebration last weekend.
”She called me up and asked me to go,” said Hencinski`s best friend, Elizabeth Hrdlicka of Darien. ”We`re having fun.”
The girls were among 40 youngsters to indulge in the society`s annual trip back to the Victorian era via Valentine making.
”This is something they (Victorians) might have done on Valentine`s Day,” said society volunteer Mary Sterling as she demonstrated how to create heart-shaped cross-stitch designs.
At another table, volunteers helped children decorate construction paper valentines.
Fourteen-year-old volunteer Deirdre Kaniewski oversaw the jewelry makers, children working on beaded and wooded necklaces. ”Now take the price tag off, don`t forget,” she reminded a little girl who needed help completing a wooden necklace.
Behind them, Catherine Coffey, a 5th grader from Hinsdale, busily hanged construction paper mobiles adorned with yarn and string on a doorknob. Historical society events have become a habit for her, she said.
Few of the girls in admitted to making a valentine for the boy of their dreams. And the sole boy in attendance, a brave 6-year-old named Tristan Lamb, who came to the event with sister Melissa, got special thanks from Sterling:
”We thank you for coming.” Tristan simply nodded.
