Heritage Hill State Park

We chose the Moravian church at Heritage Hill State Historical Park for the location of our ceremony. Elegant in its simplicity, this beautiful little church appealed to us like no other and being part of a history park added to the charm. The Moravian church, listed on the National Register of Historical Places since 1983, is Greek Revival in style and was built in 1851-52. Wisconsin has the most Moravian churches in the United States behind North Carolina and Pennsylvania and the early Moravian settlers played an important part in the history of the northeastern part of the state.

The church is located in the Growing Community section of Heritage Hill which represents the period between 1850 and 1900. Other buildings the Growing Community section contains is a fire house from 1887, a Greek Revival law office from 1835, a blacksmith shop from 1897, and several recreations from the era.

The church has four sets of pews with a divider down the middle and two aisles. The lights are brass fixtures but the room will really be lit by the eight 15-foot windows. The pulpit and altar furniture is from the time period. In the bottom picture you can see the pump organ and there is a baby grand piano near the altar. The object hanging over the altar in the above picture is the Moravian Star.

The park hours in October will be 10:00AM-4:30PM Monday through Friday. During that time you can stroll through the park or stop at their unique gift shop for a souvenir of your trip.

On October 11th, the park will not be open and guests are asked not to wander outside of the area of the church. The park entrance is through the education center at 2640 South Webster Ave (directions). The church is on the north side of the park and plainly visible when you step outside of the education center.
All images are from the Heritage Hill State Historical Park website. Please check it out; it is one of the better websites I've seen.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Save The Date!

October 11th, 2008

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We will be celebrating the marriage of Paul England and Lorrie Brown.

The ceremony will be held at the historic Moravian church on the grounds of Heritage Hill State Park in Green Bay.

The reception will follow at SC Grand afterwards.

Updates, more details about the wedding, and more information about the area will be posted on our blog, 348 Ravens.

She said yes!

I proposed to Lorrie this weekend and she said yes!

Her birthday was on Friday and for it I gave her this scrapbook page with the proposal. I put it inside a frame so one, she really had to guess what her birthday gift was and two, she could then display it. The background is a page that contains various love quotes and the flowers are ribbon roses.

I had here open the card first and there was a little 'Yes' sticker glued inside. She asked why it was there and I just told her it was part of her gift.

The idea was she could give her answer by placing the sticker on the page.  I did not provide a 'No' sticker and we didn't need it.

We're engaged!

Trick or Treat?

Lorrie: "Wait! Gia, where are you going?"

Lorrie: "Wilson!"

Lorrie: "No! Camera's over there!"

Lorrie: "Where'd Wilson go?"

Paul: "Shoot! That wasn't centered."

Lorrie: "Does this look forced?"

Lorrie: "Just take it..."


Happy Halloween!

Halloween

We've been riding around at night; amazed at all of the people who have decorated - and gone all out - for Halloween. These are some of our favorites.






And this dog didn't know what to make of the strange people taking pictures from their car...

I forgot the "off" setting

I've had this picture for a while, I just never shared it. So here it is.



And yes, Gia is celebrating.

Fainting Goats

Frankenmuth

Lorrie and I spent the day in Frankenmuth while on vacation at her parent's. I've talked about it before, and we looked forward to going back. We started with lunch at the Bavarian Inn. I once again tried some of their German specialties and beer while Lorrie had the Wunderbar Pretzel Sandwich.



We walked along the shops of the downtown area, touring the shops and checking out the sights. Being a history buff, I thought this was pretty cool.

The historical society there has created a series of pictures commemorating the town's history, surrounded by a flower garden. The pictures are "Coming To America", "Settling The Community", and "Remembering The Past." "Coming To America" highlights the journey of the Franconians. This is where the "Franken" part of the name comes from. "Settling The Community" shows the homesteaders clearing the forest and raising the first buildings. "Remembering The Past" shows the original buildings of many of the current tourist draws like Bronner's.

Speaking of Bronner's, we did go but the thrill of going to the largest Christmas store had worn off.

Vacation fun!