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

Three hundred of my relatives have sent in their registrations for our family reunion taking place later this month. As I work on the final details for the day’s events — such as color-coded name tags, table coverings, silent auction items, photos, programs, food, games, etc. — I also reviewed the movie taken at our 150th anniversary reunion in 2000. The DVD brought back many memories and, of course, my mom was there. She would have been so excited to learn of us finding the descendants of our lost relative, Gerhard Hartings, our 164 year family mystery. It will be a pleasure to introduce our newly-found family branch to the rest of the family after such a long search. It is amazing what DNA can prove, even after so many years.

I have been a genealogist for 50 years now, and I am still finding new information on our family and enjoy the search. It’s like being a detective, and I love mysteries! We continue to host library lock-ins at the museum. At a lock-in, we work one on one with individuals to uncover and research their family lines. If you are interested in working on your family history, but just don’t know how to go about it, please contact the Freeborn County Historical Museum Library and we will get your name on the list for the next lock-in.

I am taking a group to Salt Lake City in November for a genealogical research trip. If you are interested in details and did not receive the museum newsletter in June, contact the museum for further details soon, as registrations are due now. The world’s largest genealogical library is located in Salt Lake City and it is constantly adding new collections to its holdings and updating the way its resources can be accessed. It is a trip of a lifetime for a genealogist.

The Freeborn County Historical Museum, Library & Village is proud to be part of Blue Star Museums, which gives us a chance to thank our military families for their service and share with them America’s cultural treasures. Blue Star Museums is a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2016. The free admission program is available to active-duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members). Active duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and active duty National Guard and Reserve members. To find out which other museums are participating, visit arts.gov/national/blue-star-museums.

The museum will host a four-hour AARP defensive driving refresher class from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday. The cost is $20 for AARP members or $25 for non-members, 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. You will receive your certificate at the end of the class. Our next class will be from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Aug. 25.

The museum and village will be open extended hours during the Freeborn County Fair, however, the museum library will be closed during fair week. Watch for exact hours in my next column.