Preserving the Past by Pat Mulso

Here we are nearly halfway through July. Where has the summer gone? As family tradition has it, we will be having our annual sibling family reunion next month, and then there are plans in the process for another huge family reunion in our family for 2016.  One where there will be attendance in that 1,000+ person range. That will be a real celebration of finding our lost relative’s family after 164 years. We will share family stories, traditions, photos and history. New bonds will form as we bring our new found family into our family circle.  Have you taken the time to share or write down your family traditions, customs or stories that have been passed down through generations of your family? If you haven’t, there is no better time than the present. As I continue to read the diaries of my great-grandfather I learn about his daily life, those that worked for him, family matters and the things that were important to him. What a treasure to have 100 years later.

The Freeborn County Genealogical Society will be meeting at the museum at 7 p.m. tonight for their business meeting followed by coffee, treats and a program. They are one of three organizations that meet regularly at the museum. The Sons of Norway and the Golden K II Kiwanis also meet at the museum for their regular meetings. We also have several organizations holding meetings and luncheons in our meeting rooms this month.

The museum will host an AARP Smart Driving Class from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday. This is the four-hour refresher class that is needed every three years after the initial eight-hour class. The cost is $20 for AARP members and $25 for non members. This includes the cost of class materials and an administrative host fee. You must register for the class and will need your driver’s license and AARP card, if a member, at time of registration. Call the museum at 507-373-8003 or stop by the museum during regular hours.

The Freeborn County Historical Society board of directors will host a Swiss steak fundraiser from 4:30 to 7 p.m. July 24 at the American Legion in Albert Lea. The cost is $9 and tickets are available at the museum or from any board member. Join us for dinner, and leave the cooking and clean up to us. We appreciate the continued support of the community to the museum and our projects.

The museum and village will have extended hours during the Freeborn County Fair.

The gate by the village church will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free to all fair attendees. The museum library will be closed during fair week. We will also host a special lecture on at 7 p.m. July 30 by Michael Luick-Thrams. Michael is a historian and author and has unearthed an entire cemetery in his family’s 400-year history of life in North America.  From a great-grandfather in the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s to a mass-murdering mommy in Depression-era Albert Lea, from butchers turned frontier lawmen to philandering Iowa farmers. His presentation will focus on one Midwest family’s improbable journey from Europe to American heartland and back. Along the way, they have found both disasters and redemption. The lecture is free to museum members as well as fairgoers and will be held in the museum’s new meeting rooms.

 

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum, Library and Village, 1031 Bridge Ave.