Column: Preserving the Past, by Pat Mulso

Time is marching forward and our plan for events are also. Our swiss steak fundraiser will be from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on July 24 at the American Legion. We have also locked in the dates for our annual Salt Lake City Research Trip. This year’s trip will be a little later in the year than we have had in the past. The dates are Nov.  9 through Nov. 15. Please contact the museum as soon as possible if you have interest in going on this trip.

This past weekend we held our first post Salt Lake City lock-in. This was a seven-hour retreat where individuals that went on the trip last year got together with all their research info and spent the night organizing and reviewing information.  We started with a group dinner at the museum and then each of us had several tables on which we could sort and review our family info. Some people even input the info on their computers.  At midnight we decided that we probably need a couple more of these before November so we are ready for our next trip.

We also shared family food traditions, and that brought back lots of memories for me of both my dad and my grandmother. They were both excellent cooks, and I don’t remember them using recipes or measuring ingredients. It was a little of this and a pinch of that and everything was always delicious. At our house it wasn’t a meal unless there was meat, potatoes, a vegetable and apple sauce or cooked apples.

Most every meal had gravy also and if you were still hungry after the first serving, you ate gravy bread. We did not have dessert very often.  Eight times a year for sure, on our birthday, we got to pick out what kind of cake and what color of frosting we wanted.  Occasionally on Sunday evenings we would have ice cream. My dad would open up the carton of ice cream and cut it in slices and we would each get a slice. And of course there were special meals for special holidays. Ham for Easter and Christmas, turkey for Thanksgiving and spare ribs and sauerkraut for New Years.

Summer holiday meals were always fixed out on the old stone fireplace in the backyard and included my dad’s famous baked beans and usually hamburgers and fried potatoes fixed in foil on the fireplace and sometimes homemade ice cream. Do you have a favorite meal from your childhood? Do you ever fix it? One of mine was bone-in ham with fresh green beans and potatoes baked together in the oven and of course applesauce.  That’s what we had on Friday night. Share some of your favorites with your family, and you’ll be surprised at what other memories talking about meals will bring back, ones maybe you haven’t thought about in a long time.

The museum will be hosting two four-hour defensive driving refresher classes in March. One is from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 8 and one from noon to 4 p.m. on March 17. You must register for the class.

The Freeborn County Historical Society will have its annual meeting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 16. The meeting will begin with a meal. If you are a member and plan to attend, please RSVP by Feb. 12. Membership is now due. If you have not renewed your membership, please do so as soon as possible so your name will not be taken off the membership list. We appreciated your continued support to the museum and our programs. Thank you to the 320 or more members that have already renewed their memberships.

Have a great week and Happy Valentine’s Day!  The new museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Hope to see you soon.

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