Classroom in the Badlands

     Yee-haw, Medora! I'm really starting to get into the swing of things out here. One of the main events  related to my co-op that I've been working on lately is Classroom in the Badlands. Classroom in the Badlands is an event that the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation puts on in May for teachers and students across the state. Classes are invited to come to Medora and visit different historical and tourist sites for education and fun! K (main supervisor), T, and I are responsible for two main stops on the classes' tours: The Harold Schafer Center, and the Von Hoffman House. Yesterday, K and T were in Fargo promoting the Musical, so I was leading tours!

                                                                               Harold Schafer Heritage Center:

Harold Schafer was a North Dakotan business man who started the Gold Seal Company in the 1942. The Gold Seal Company manufactured products such as Gold Seal Floor Wax, Glass Wax, Snowy Bleach, and Mr. Bubble. In the 1960's he bought the Roughrider Hotel in Medora. He also started to buy other properties in town as well as the amphitheater in the Badlands where the production Ol' Four Eyes (where the Medora Musical would play later) was performed. He wanted to preserve the historical integrity and magic of Medora and its surroundings in the Badlands. In 1986, he sold the Gold Seal company and founded the non-profit Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation to continue the upkeep of Medora and the Medora Musical. He and his wife, Sheila, continued to come back to Medora and enjoyed the town and the joy it brought to visitors and residents. Harold passed away in 2001,  but not before he got to see the Center built in his name in 1995. Sheila still lives in Medora during the summer seasons, and Medora continues to prosper!

                                                                                     Von Hoffman House:

The Von Hoffman House was built in 1884 for Medora's (the Marquise de Mores) parents. It's made out of bricks, manufactured and masoned by Peter Book south of Medora. Mr. Book also made the bricks for the slaughterhouse, St. Mary's Church, the basement of the Chateau, and the faux front of the Hotel De Mores in town. The Baron and Baroness Von Hoffman did not actually stay in this house for long periods of time. In fact, the Baroness is reported to visited this house very few times, even though she designed and commissioned it. A local family from Medora, the Foleys, lived in the house from the 1890's until 1963. It eventually became the Medora Doll House Museum and was owned by TRMF. The house has been restored so that the rooms on the first floor reflect living quarters with a bedroom, parlor, library, dining room, and kitchen, and the upstairs is a gallery filled with items related to Joe Ferris, Theodore Roosevelt, and 'Dutch' Zeigler.