Volunteer Clark Hall explains to the Lawrence family, from Mercer, how an old drill bit works during Drake Day on Saturday.

Sarah Goodman, museum educator, shows seven-year-old Walter Staraitis, from Cleveland, how the hydrophobic cloth works. Walter’s brother Anthony, also seven, was more interested in the sand box full of turtles that Goodman used to show how to clean up oil from animals.

Volunteer Clark Hall explains to the Lawrence family, from Mercer, how an old drill bit works during Drake Day on Saturday.

If you came to visit Drake Well Museum and Park on a typical day, you wouldn’t have heard Clark Hall tell you that to properly work a spring poll rig, “you have to have cooperation.”

Hall, with one foot in the stirrup, explained to countless visitors on Saturday that while the rich, like Colonel Edwin Drake, may have been able to afford a steam engine for their rigs, for the average farmers all you needed was a couple of trees and some rope.

Hall’s explanation of the spring poll to a Herald man was interrupted when other visitors came to the tent that he had set up nearby with a table full of artifacts.

“Anything you can ask I can help you with,” said Hall as he walked back to the visitors as he picked up an old drill bit.

Hall, as well as other volunteer interpreters, were on site on Saturday as Drake Well Museum and Park celebrated a 163rd birthday of sorts.

“Today is the anniversary of the Drake Well oil strike, the whole reason this museum exists,” said Sarah Goodman, Drake Well Museum educator. “We celebrated by recognizing what we have done here to preserve the oil history and improve our interpretations.”

The museum held its annual Drake Day celebration and event, where they brought their exhibits to life. On the museum grounds were plenty of Drake Well Museum volunteers who were ready and eager to answer questions and give plenty of information on the subjects they have become experts on. The volunteers, or interpreters as called by Goodman, were set up at different exhibits throughout the grounds.

Goodman said that having these experts near the different pieces of history is a good way to make it easier for people to understand what happened at that site, and has happened in the petroleum industry since.

One of those volunteers was Ray Tucker, who stood next to the Densmore Cars and explained the history of oil transport. Goodman said that not all people learn best by reading, some are interactive learners.

“Listening to our interpreters can be a memorable event. We want people to go ‘hey, there was this guy Ray, I remember talking to him about oil transportation and hearing all these great stories,’” said Goodman.

While having signs on the premises is very important to explaining the history, they can’t compare to having someone who is knowledgeable and who cares about the subject. As Tucker would say, “signs can’t answer questions. Signs are not passionate.”

Other experts on site included Clark Hall, who talked to guests for hours about the spring poll they have on site, Roger Loker, at the Central Power building and Dick Baker who was inside the museum to answer questions. A favorite of many visitors, Bill Stumpf could of course be found inside the replica.

Goodman herself had a booth set up near the entrance of the museum. Many of the exhibits and interpreters talked about the history of the oil industry. Goodman took some time to talk about the present. Armed with some vegetable oil, dish soap and special cloth, Goodman gave a hands-on presentation about what happens when there is an oil spill.

Goodman said that if you spilled milk on your kitchen floor, you would use paper towels to clean it up. When it comes to oil, and when you spill oil in nature, you need something else.

Sarah Goodman, museum educator, shows seven-year-old Walter Staraitis, from Cleveland, how the hydrophobic cloth works. Walter’s brother Anthony, also seven, was more interested in the sand box full of turtles that Goodman used to show how to clean up oil from animals.

Goodman had some hydrophobic cloth on hand to show how modern day oil spills are cleaned up. To explain it to the kids, Goodman said the cloth is “scared of the water so it picks up the oil.”

 Also on site on Saturday were blacksmiths from the Oil Valley Blacksmith’s Association. The blacksmiths had their rivet forges hot and made rope stands for the museum to protect some of their prized artifacts. They weren’t just working, as part of the job included answering questions, just as the interpreters did all day.

The special exhibits were not just on the outside of the museum, as there was a slideshow taking place inside the museum building showing how the museum has grown and changed over the years.

If you thought the Drake Well Replica looked good for being 163 years old, you would be right. As with everything related to the museum, everything has changed.

The well and engine house fell into disrepair after Drake was done with it. Eventually a pipe and platform was built and a monument was erected, and in 1945 the replica that stands today was built. The replica is just one part of the museum’s collection, and one example of how the museum has changed over the years.

    This museum is a living and breathing creature,” said Goodman. “We wanted to take a day and recognize the change for the better that has happened here, and how we have improved things.”

Goodman was happy to have Drake Day back in full force. The museum has been making an effort to try to have events and happenings to bring people back to the museum grounds.

“You might have visited a couple years ago, or on a field trip in fourth grade,” she said. “You won’t find the same museum that you saw the last time you visited. Things change almost every day.”

Dvorkin can be reached by email at Gdvorkin@titusvilleherald.com.

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