FORT LARNED NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE — The public is invited to visit Fort Larned this Fourth of July and experience a working frontier Army post while celebrating our nation’s birthday. Staff and volunteers at the National Historic Site will bring the fort to life as soldiers and civilians, officers’ wives and laundresses. Watch the blacksmith use fire to turn iron into everyday objects, or hear the crack of rifles and the boom of the cannon. There will be an art program for kids in the post schoolhouse throughout the day.

Schedule of events
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Painting Nature for Kids (in the Post Schoolhouse)
Fun art project for kids connecting the study of nature with art. Examine natural objects and draw them the way John James Audubon did. Some of the natural objects on display include a robin’s nest with eggs, a feather and an acorn.

10 a.m. – Forge and Anvil: The Post Blacksmith (in the Blacksmith Shop)
Watch the blacksmith transform iron into everyday objects used at the fort.

11 a.m. – Growing up on Officers’ Row (in the South Officers’ Quarters)
Learn about the life of children on a frontier post. Includes a reading of “The Boy and the Bullfrog,” followed by tin can ice cream activity.

1 p.m. – Artillery and Small Arms Firing Demonstration (behind the Quartermaster Warehouse)
See how the soldiers used their weapons on the frontier.

2 p.m. – Growing up on Officers’ Row (in the South Officers’ Quarters)
Learn about the life of children on a frontier post. Includes a reading of “Mouse Fingers,” followed by tin can ice cream activity.

3 p.m. – Join the Army (in the Barracks)
Find out if you have what it takes to be a frontier soldier.

4:30 p.m. – Flag Retreat (on the Parade Ground)
Traditional Army flag-lowering ceremony.

Fort Larned National Historic Site is located 6 miles west of Larned on K-156. Information on visiting is on the internet at www.nps.gov/fols or by calling 620-285-6911, or email to fols_superintendent@nps.gov.