Preserving the Past by Pat Mulso

Thank you to all the volunteers that made the annual Autumn in the Village a huge success! The weather could have been a little warmer, but it didn’t stop those in attendance from enjoying the afternoon filled with demonstrations, food and activities for the entire family.

During my first year at the museum I was surprised at the lack of children and young families at Autumn in the Village. Over the last nine years we have tried new activities and demonstrations and are happy to see the attendance of children growing by leaps and bounds. It was fun to see children testing their skills on the hoop and stick game, sack races, washing clothes, quill pen writing, rope making, corn shelling, coffee grinding and even learning how to square dance.

We had new exhibits in the museum and red barn and were happy to have many of our regular demonstrators return as well. Thank you to all the demonstrators, volunteers, business donors, Albert Lea Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and staff for making this event successful. A special thank you to Brad Kirchner for chairing this year’s event and to my sister, Sandy, brother-in-law, Marty, and niece, Jennifer, for making the trip from Ohio to work all day Saturday and Sunday with me to complete the preparations for Autumn in the Village. Special recognition to Dean Johnson, Hattie Phillips and Art Emick for their special efforts on the new exhibits.

Last week was a busy week, with Autumn in the Village on Sunday, the Central Freeborn Lutheran Church soup and dessert dinner on Monday, a tour group on Tuesday as well as the joint Kiwanis installation dinner, followed by the Freeborn County Communities Foundation grant reception on Wednesday, Kiwanis scholastic reading presentation and a defensive driving refresher class on Thursday, and Night at the Museum for a children’s group on Friday. As you can see, the community is enjoying our new facility and we are pleased to be able to help meet the needs of our community.

The village has officially closed for the season, but the museum and library are open year round from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. Wednesday through Saturday. There is a new lecture series beginning at 9 a.m. Oct. 11 in the meeting room in the new addition. October’s topic is “The Golden Age of Radio.” There will be an hour lecture followed by time for questions and discussion. The lecture is free for museum members and $5 for nonmembers. The museum door will open at 8:45 a.m. Please plan to join.

There is a bus tour scheduled for Oct. 14. We will be touring the Hormel Institute, a military museum, having lunch and seeing a World War II travelling exhibit, along with a mystery stop along the way. The bus will leave promptly at 8:25 a.m. and return at approximately 4:30 p.m. The cost is $55 for members and $65 for nonmembers. This includes the bus, lunch and all admissions. You must pre-register by Saturday.

There will be another defensive driving refresher class from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25.

Be sure to check out the building expansion donor recognition board located next to the elevator near the reception desk. Thank you to Dean Johnson for making the board, Tiger City Sports for making the nameplates and to all the donors for making the addition a reality. The addition is a great asset, not only for the museum, but for the community as well.

Remember it is time to renew your museum membership. You may do so by stopping by the museum, mailing your renewal to the museum or you may renew online with a credit card. Thank you for your continued support to the museum and its programs.  And thank you for helping preserve the history of our community and its people.

 

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