Column: Pat Mulso, Preserving the Past

Are there things from your childhood that you never forget and that come to mind from time to time? For example, when I would walk home from church by myself at night and hear something or feel afraid of the dark I would sing and keep telling myself that God was with me and I should not be afraid. When I hear someone say “Oh, for pity sake,” I immediately think of my Aunt Ethel because that was one of her favorite sayings and it reminds me of her warm smile and loving disposition.

My mom would always say “don’t borrow trouble.” I never understood that saying until I was 15 and suffering from severe headaches. I was put through many tests and X-rays and then scheduled for an electroencephalogram. When the doctor explained the test to us all I heard was they put needles in your head, and I was immediately terrified inside, but never said a word. Prior to the test I was to stay awake for 24 hours, and I remember worrying continuously about how painful the test was going to be since I already had a severe headache and then they were going to put needles in my head. When we arrived at the hospital and they started preparing me for the test, I found that they just pasted the needles on my head, I suddenly realized that I had “borrowed trouble,” I had worried about something that I need not have done, and my mother’s saying made perfect sense.

I could go on and on with examples, but I imagine you get the drift, my point is: have you shared your life experiences with your family or have you recorded them for future generations? We too often put off doing things and then sometimes it is too late. A simple notebook with notes and thoughts could bring many happy moments and an insight to your personality and life to future generations. As we help individuals with their genealogy and family history it is wonderful when we are able to find the ancestor in the census records or their birth or death records, but if we are able to find them in a newspaper article or an obituary that tells what they were involved with during their life it opens a whole new avenue of searching and helps the individual to get to know the person.

The museum has scheduled a Library Lock-In from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 18 in our museum library. This is an opportunity for you to get one-on-one help with your family research and to learn ways to organize the information that you collect. The cost is $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers. The class size is very limited, so don’t delay, register soon.

The museum will also be hosting a Defensive Driving Refresher Class from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on April 5. The cost is $19 and you must pre-register for the class.

The refresher class is required every three years, after you have taken the initial eight-hour class, to continue receiving a discount on your auto insurance.

The museum is busy planning events for 2011. We will host another research trip to Salt Lake City in early October, watch for details soon. This opportunity to do research at the world’s largest genealogical library is an experience that you will never forget. They have collected records of all sorts from all over the world and have volunteer helpers there to assist you each day in your journey to piece the story of your family together one record at a time.

We would like to say thank you to the volunteers who helped at our table at the toy show last weekend and to Don Gross and Bob Fjelbroten for providing a place for us. There are so many individuals who give and do work behind the scenes for us, and we really do appreciate all that the community does to support the efforts of the Freeborn County Historical Museum, Library and Village. We are looking forward to another successful year of preserving the history of Freeborn County and its people.

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea.