Steve Nelson is pretty picky about what can be placed in Provo's Pioneer Village. The 1910 "Magestic" oven, for example, is a real piece of work but 50 years out of place. 

NELSON HAS A LOT of the not-quite-old-enough stuff laying around the village while lacking what he really needs: cash for renovation. One plan, then, is to sell what's out of place to raise the funds to fix what belongs.

He figures he needs about $100,000 for a full make-over of the village but is focusing first on a cabin that's literally falling apart.

"The Turner Cabin is our jewel. It's from 1853. It's worth saving," he said.

To repair just that building, he needs to raise $15,000 to $30,000.

"I'm going around asking people for money," he said Saturday while pointing out termite damage. "It's not fun at all."

Andrea Peterson and her 5-year-old daughter Kristi were having fun as they poked their heads in buildings and played with pioneer toys outside the old school house.

"It's just kind of intriguing to me to see how the people lived," said Andrea Peterson, whose ancestors came across the Plains with other members of the LDS Church.

The homes are tiny inside, and she said she wonders how big families could live in such a confined space.

It's neat to see that we have some history around after all these years," she said.

Nelson would like to see it around for a lot longer. He's just bought a full-size ox made of aluminum to show visitors how his "ox shoer" works and he'd like to rebuild the "mud wagon," stagecoach he deems the SUV of its time because of its sturdiness. He's also ready to expand the area of the village by 40 percent with a new fence,

"It represents not what people here have done to represent a story but the story itself."

Anyone interested in donating to the village can reach Nelson at 375-9299.