Local boy enjoys involvement in Pilgrimage

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Airlie may be over 200 years old, but the spirit that inhabits it is very young.

Running through the antebellum house and on the grounds is Samuel Freiberger, 9, who has lived at the house ever since he was born.

Freiberger loves the old house, saying he wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else.

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He likes the stories behind the different rooms, with his favorite room being his bedroom, because it was used to perform surgeries during the Civil War. It even has a bloodstain on the floor, which he loves to point out to tourists and guests.

For the most part, Samuel leads the day-to-day life of any normal 9-year-old boy, including playing video games, watching television or doing art work, he just gets to do it in an antebellum house.

However, when Pilgrimage rolls around, his life takes a blast to the past. He dresses in a period costume and continues his daily routine as tourists walk through the house.