Eagle, Wis.– Hank, the newly famous Brewers dog, might have captured the hearts of Major League Baseball fans, but Pete and Charlie, Old World Wisconsin’s engaging new oxen team, promise to bring their own weighty brand of animal fun to the Milwaukee area.
These leggy four-and-a-half-year-olds are a Red Holstein/Brown Swiss cross breed. Like Hank, the stray discovered during spring training in Arizona, they needed a new home and traveled cross country to reach it.
Pete and Charlie were raised in Strafford, New Hampshire, by high school junior Connor Tasker. He trained the team to compete in the 4-H ox program and opted to sell the oxen to help pay for college.
According to Dirk Hildebrandt, of the museum’s farm staff, training oxen is still quite common in New England, so when it was decided to get a new team that could perform the 19th-century tasks for Old World Wisconsin, it was an easy decision to travel East and bring the oxen back to the Midwest.
Hildebrandt elaborated: “We looked for just the right team. Connor trained Pete and Charlie very well, and now that he’s going off to college we were lucky enough to be able to purchase his team. We all look forward to working with them. They will further Old World’s mission of historical education for many years to come.”
Guests to the museum should be able to visit Pete and Charlie at the Schulz Farm by the end of June, once the animals are acclimated to their new home. No Pete and Charlie bobbleheads are being planned at this time.
Overview of Old World Wisconsin
Old World Wisconsin, located in the Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison triangle, experienced a 21-percent attendance increase in 2013, in part due to focus on increased opportunities for guest engagement. The outdoor museum features 19th- and early 20th-century Midwestern immigrant farm and rural life. During the daily operating season May through October, plus postseason and holiday events in November and December, the museum offers family friendly activities, led by period-clad interpreters, as they visit 10 working farmsteads, explore 12 heirloom gardens, interact with heritage animal breeds, and try historic crafts and trades. Old World Wisconsin is located at W372 S9727 Highway 67, Eagle, WI 53119. For general information and details about 2014 activities, call 262-594-6301 or visit www.oldworldwisconsin.org.
