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Barbara Tatom didn’t know what to expect when the doors opened Friday morning for Pioneer Days 2021 at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama.

There continues to be concerns about the coronavirus, school groups are taking fewer field trips, beach traffic has slowed and many people continue to just feel safer at home. It would be wait and see.

By 10:30 a.m. Tatom, director of the Pioneer Museum of Alabama, could breathe more easily. It was going to be a good day at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama.

“And, it was a good day,” Tatom said. “A really good day and we hope to have an equally good day today when Pioneer Days continues.”

Tatom said Pioneer Days will feature the same demonstrations as Friday — blacksmithing, rope making, woodworking, outdoor cooking, hand sewing, spinning, weaving, chair chaining, re-enactors of the War of 1812 and the Civil War, wagon rides and preaching in the log church. The country store will be open as will the Little Red Schoolhouse and, today, the Montgomery Area Dulcimer Players will entertain for about an hour beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Brian and Dana Jones will share samples of their outdoor cooking and the food wagon will be back with a variety of festival foods available, hot and ready, and the ice cream truck will be on the grounds.

Tatom said visitors to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama on Friday included homeschoolers from throughout the area, including Covenant Christian School in Troy.

“The students on Friday were very well behaved and were intuitive and inquisitive,” Tatom said. “They were well-prepared to participate in Pioneer Days. They asked pertinent questions and listened to learn.”

Tatom said she is looking for participation to be equally good today.

“We invite community members and all of those who have an interest in Alabama’s pioneer history to visit the museum,” Tatom said. “We are continually making additions or changes to better tell the story of Alabama pioneers. Exhibits tell us stories of how our communities, our nation and our cultures came to be. Without them, those stories would be forgotten. So, visit the Pioneer Museum. We have stories to tell.”

The Pioneer Museum is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.  Admission is charged. Memberships, individual and family, are available.