Preserving the Past by Pat Mulso

A special thank you to Marion Ross for spending the past week with us. Our “Echoes from the Past… A Journey into History,” sold out and we had a great turnout for the “Evening with Marion Ross” as well. Both events were fundraisers for the museum.

Marion will be staring in the play, “Moon over Buffalo” by Ken Ludwig, at the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas, in the spring of 2016. Watch for details soon for a weekend bus trip planned to attend the play in early April of 2016. Marion continues to amaze us with her endless energy and love of life. She may be almost 87 years old but can still work circles around most. She loves what she does and it shows.

Your opinion is needed! Please join SELCO staff representatives at the SELCO Library Legacy Listening Session from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the Freeborn County Historical Museum meeting room. This is your opportunity to tell SELCO what types of community partnerships are taking place as a result of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund Library Legacy Funding and to share ideas for possible future partnerships or activities.

The museum will host a four-hour defensive driving refresher class from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. The cost is $20 for AARP members or $25 for nonmembers, which includes the class materials and administrative fee. You must pre-register for the class and will need your driver’s license to do so. The refresher course is needed every three years after the initial eight-hour class is taken to continue receiving a discount on your auto insurance. Call or stop by the museum to register during our regular business hours.

The theme for our “Historically Speaking Lecture Series” for this fall will be around the presidents of the United States. The first of the series will be at 9 a.m. Sept. 12 at the museum meeting room. “Religion and the Presidents: Truman to Obama” will be presented by Gary Schindler. The lecture will review the religious beliefs of the Presidents of the United States from Truman to Obama and will also include the relationship they have had with the Rev. Billy Graham.  Admission is free to museum members and $5 for nonmembers.

I recently applied for a large Legacy grant through the Minnesota Historical Society to purchase an archival shelving system, which is the third and last phase of the museum, expansion and remodeling project. This project will cost approximately $85,000. If we receive the grant, there will be only a minimal cost to the museum budget, some in-kind staff time, some volunteer hours and a small monetary contribution. The project will maximize the use of our archive space and allow us to again have room to accept donations to continue to preserve the history of Freeborn County and its people. It will also give us the space to organize and catalog items so we have a better knowledge of our collection. We will know by the end of the year if we have been awarded the grant.

 

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