Ready for visitors Stephen Siwinski, who has repaired and restored the log cabin at Flora Community Park, invites the public to an open house on July 4 from noon until 6 p.m. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald A log cabin that had been moved into the Flora Community Park in 1981, but had fallen into disrepair, has been restored.

The Flora Town Council put out a plea last April for an organization or group to take it over and save it, but there were no takers.

In May, the council announced that other options were being explored.

Glen Dillman, who was instrumental in bringing the cabin to the park, said it was his understanding that as of last spring, the cabin was to be improved or removed.

Then Stephen Siwinski of Flora stepped into the scene. He is not a native of Flora, but he took an interest in the project.

"I decided to save it from the wrecking ball," he said.

For the past month and a half, he has spent two or three hours a day repairing and refurbishing the cabin.

He did all the work himself including chinking, window repair, painting, shoring up the floor, redoing the stairway to the second story, adding boards to the front and back stoop, cleaning and airing out the place, etc.

A home from the past Since Stephen Siwinski planned to have an open house in the restored log cabin at the park, he and his wife have made it more inviting and representative of the time period. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald And he didn't stop t here. He picked up stones out of the fields and lined them up around the foundation of the house to add a natural, decorative touch. He added flowers and shrubs to spruce up the outside of the cabin. And he and his wife, Deb, built a shelf inside and brought in some pottery, utensils and furnishings to give the cabin a homey look.

He said people walking the trail at the park took interest in the project, watching the progress and sometimes stopping to talk.

"They were pleased that I added a flag pole out front," Siwinski said.

The cabin had not been used for several years since it had been deemed unsafe.

Dillman, a social studies teacher, said he and his two history clubs had acquired the cabin from Kenny Orem. It was sitting abandoned on his property, four miles south and a mile and a half east of Flora. Dillman has a copy of the deed, indicating that it was built in 1834.

For several years, the history clubs decorated the building for Christmas, and invited visitors to see what a log cabin looked like in the 1850s and '60s. The students studied local, state, and national news from that time period, and portrayed people from that era.

Dillman said he conducted tours for school groups, and some clubs and families used it from time to time.

He and the students did some repair work as needed, but then Dillman said the task became too great. Unsafe and in disrepair, it has just been standing there, unattended. Until Siwinski came forward to save it.

Since the Fourth of July holiday is all about our history, Siwinski said it seemed appropriate to have an open house at the log cabin on that day. The cabin will be open to visitors from noon to 6 p.m. To add to the atmosphere, a spinner will be on hand.

So people could make a day of it, Siwinski arranged for the Delphi Trolley to give visitors a ride to Adams Mill and back. The trolley will leave from the parking lot near the cabin at noon and again at 1 p.m.

Visitors can top off the day by attending an old-fashioned Gospel Fest from 6 to 10 p.m. at the park, and then stay for the town fireworks.