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Family Life’s “Staycation Destinations” for Summer 2023

“Ska-Nonh” translates into English, roughly, as “peace and wellness” or “I am glad it is well with you.”

That Native American vocabulary — and philosophy — gave the name to the Ska-nonh Great Law of Peace Center along the shore of Onandaga Lake in central New York. The Skanonh Center is a living museum which celebrates the culture, history and contributions of multiple nations which found unity they share as the Haudenosaunee People.

The Center is a project of the Onandaga Historical Association. Executive Director Lisa Moore offers us an overview of the Haudenosaunee stories, and she provides details of what visitors can experience.

• “The things we have a tendency to overlook take on a new level of importance. In Haudenosaunee tradition, being grateful and giving thanks is a regular practice in both everyday life and at special occasions. The Thanksgiving Address, or “The Words that Come Before All Else,” is delivered in Native Haudenosaunee languages at both the beginning and the end of social gatherings, celebrations, and council meetings; and it is recited each morning at the beginning of the school day.”

 

The Ska-nonh Center is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, and is located on the Onondaga Lake Parkway at Liverpool, northwest of Syracuse. Details and schedules are here.

 

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This week’s Side Trip Suggestion: 

The “Shoe House” in Yorklyn, PA.

“There was an old woman, who lived in….”

You probably already heard about that one, but elsewhere, an old businessman lived and worked in a retail-store shoe. “Colonel” Mahlon Haines became a millionaire selling shoes, but in the late 1940s at age 73, he decided to spend some of his money to build a 48-foot* shoe.  He sold work boots for $1.98 there. The Shoe House became famous, as Haines offered the shoe as a free honeymoon suite (with a butler and maid) to any couple who got married in town.  You can see the outside, but tours are no longer available — unless you arrange to be a paying customer. The Shoe House (in south central Pennsylvania) has become an expensive vacation rental home.

* (that’s a measurement, not a count)