MONDAY MORNING MUSEUM UPDATE – February 23, 2026 – Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum

In this week’s update: Historic Pancake & Waffle Mix release date announced, Gift Shop renovation, Last week for Nutt grant public feedback survey, and more!

In this update, keep up to date on what staff and volunteers at the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum are working on to lift up the history of Lindsborg and the surrounding region. This weekly update both looks back at what happened and looks ahead at what’s coming.

For February 16-22, 2026:

Here at the Lindsborg Museum, we are SO excited to announce the upcoming release of a pancake and waffle flour mix based on the historical recipe from the last owners of the 1898 Smoky Valley Roller Mills.

The recipe is about 80 years old and was believed lost until recently when a notebook found during a home renovation in town was discovered to include the hand-written recipe from the Runbeck Brothers, who owned the Old Mill 1934-1955.

Now, thanks to our business partnership with Sunflower Food Co. in Lenexa, Kansas, this classic flavor is returning to shelves and restaurants starting on March 21, 2026 – the day of the Lindsborg Vaffeldagen waffle festival!

Also on that day as a one-time celebration for the festival, we will be selling fresh-baked waffles made from the new mix for $3 each at the museum!

Full details are in a news release here: www.oldmillmuseum.org/news/#PancakeMix

On March 21, the product will be released for purchase from the online Museum gift shop at www.oldmillmuseum.org/gift-shop.

We are very excited to finally be bringing this project to fruition and to bring Kansas a delicious taste of the past!

Betty Amos, chair of the Museum Board of Directors, tested early versions of the returned pancake mix.

Retail packaging of the Traditional Pancake Mix

The mix also makes delicious waffles.

The pancakes cook up fresh and golden brown from the Traditional Pancake Mix.

Front of the informational tag on the retail package.

Back of the informational tag on the retail package.

The 80-year-old Smoky Valley Best Traditional Pancake Mix is based on Old-World flavor.
Please “excuse our mess” as we are in the midst of a significant renovation to our museum Gift Shop and Welcome Area, which will be a great aesthetic and access improvement for our museum visitors!
First, the Museum Handy Crew continues work on the main entryway into the main gallery to be more ADA compliant with a wider doorway. Last week they added the finished door jambs to the entryway.
Second, we are using a grant from the Lindsborg Arts Council to add traditional kurbits designs to our gift shop shelves! They are being hand-painted by Lindsborg local Carla Wilson and we are expecting beautiful results. The shelves will be temporarily removed from the shop area as each are painted off-site before being re-installed after the paint has dried.
The grant will also be funding three new art reproductions by Rita Walker on metal backing that feature the Old Mill and Swedish Pavilion that will be going up above the main gallery entryway. We received those reproductions last week (pictured below); they just need to be installed!
For many visitors to Lindsborg, this is their first stop in town and their first experience of the city. These improvements will mean a much better first impression!
Watch here for updates as the work progresses.
We need your help as we apply for $187,835 in funding from the David J. Nutt Legacy Grant from the McPherson County Community Foundation! We have raised about 36% of the funds necessary to replace the roof of the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion in a more historically accurate way as well as add guttering to prevent water damage in the 123-year-old historic structure. Right now the Foundation is taking community feedback to help prioritize funding 2026 grant funding among the Pavilion and 9 other worthy Lindsborg projects. Please take about 10-15 minutes to take a community feedback survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026NuttFundSurvey and make your voice heard!
This is the last week to provide your input via the survey!
Last Saturday, we had 23 registrants at our Beginning Swedish Research online workshop – a new format of a half-day workshop getting our students the basics to start them on the genealogy research journey! For the next steps, coming up next on March 21, we will have our next regularly scheduled Swedish Genealogy Workshop. Members receive a $20 discount. Register today!
If you think that you (or someone you know) should be the next Executive Director of the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum, applications are now open for the position! Just go to www.oldmillmuseum.org/careers to read the job description and requirements, then send us your cover letter and résumé! If you prefer the Indeed platform, we also now have the position open for applications at the link HERE. We look forward to considering your application!
Be sure to some see “A Day with the Birds” temporary exhibit at the museum, open now through through March 7!
Developed by the Kauffman Museum in Newton, Kansas, the traveling exhibit includes taxidermized birds, informational panels (in both English and Spanish) and many hands-on interactive elements. The exhibit is included in regular museum admission!
Come see this wonderful exhibit while it’s here – fun for all ages!
Adam processed two new and three renewing renewing memberships last week!
Even so, we are currently showing about 85 recent membership supporters who are overdue on renewing.
Have you renewed your museum membership? (Are you sure?)
Memberships are a critical source of reliable support for the museum! And we now have an exciting new option – Lifetime Membership!
Give us a call at 785-227-3595 or email at oldmillmuseum@gmail.com, and we will be glad to check on your status. It’s also a great time to think about becoming a new member if you’ve never been one before, or to purchase a gift membership for someone special in your life! See www.oldmillmuseum.org/members for details!
Sponsorship opportunities for Millfest 2026 are now open and available! After processing three sponsorships last week, already we have had $5,250 in event sponsorship dollars come in!
Scheduled next year for Saturday, May 2, this is the one time annually that our visitors can take guided tours of the 1898 Old Mill IN OPERATION! The festival also includes, music, entertainment, arts & crafts, antique tractor show, games, demonstrations and face painting!
Giving levels to sponsor run from as little as $25 to get your name in the program to $5,000 or more to secure topline “Brought to you by…” overall event sponsorship. You can also choose to direct your donation to specific Millfest attractions, including face painting, tractor show, Old Mill tours, or music performances! See full details including how to arrange your sponsorship with the forms included below.
We are more than 1/3 of the way toward the funds we will need under the “Raise the Roof” campaign to repair the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion’s roof in a more durable and historically accurate way, with $106,431.15 donated to the roof phase of the project. We have applied for a Legacy Nutt grant to try to close the funding gap to finish the project; even so, more will likely be needed to be able to complete this phase 2.
If you would like to help with Raise the Roof, you can learn more at www.oldmillmuseum.org/raise-the-roof. Contributions made now will not be eligible for the special tax credit opportunity, but may have tax benefits as a qualifying donation to a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization charity.
We have several recognition reward levels available: These include recognition on our website and an invitation to a special VIP event once all of the funds needed for the roof (at $100 or more) and opportunities to have a “roof tile” with custom wording added to a permanent honor wall (at $1,000 or more)!
We are continuing our critical Harvest of Giving fundraising event into 2026 as our topline goal in $50,000 in unrestricted donations – to keep the museum lights on and the doors open in 2026 – has not yet been met. Currently, this effort is at about $40,000.
In the space of four years, a major source of public funding has gone from covering half of our annual expenses to less than 8% and is not showing any signs of returning. Because of this, it is more important than ever for generous private donors, businesses, and organizations to step in and ensure that the rare experiences at the Museum continue to be available in 2026. Learn more and make your charitable donation today at www.oldmillmuseum.org/harvest-of-giving.
Adam continued working on arrangements for three Kansas Folklife presentations through Humanities Kanas.
We hosted Bethany College education major students last week for a research opportunity and a museum tour.
Lenora submitted the final report for the Humanities Kansas speaker series we held last year.
The Handy Crew also removed several small trees around the dam and turbine house area.
Lenora is working on grant funds to ensure stabilization of the museum gravel parking lot and retaining wall.
Lenora met for coffee at with residents at Sunflower Terrace and Friday friendship coffee in these ongoing community outreach opportunities.
Work on the Train Depot roof by Raber Roofing may begin this week, pending arrival of materials.
Lenora worked on drafting a museum Facility Use Policy. This will be made public once finalized, and will include both policies and regulations and pricing schedules for use of various facilities at the museum.
Lenora, the board chair, and the board treasurer met to work on revisions to the museum 2026 budget, which was presented to the board on Thursday night.
Museum staff continue to work on Millfest planning. Millfest is Saturday, May 2.
Tyler is continuing to work on digitizing our collection of printed literature, while Julie Ann continues with adding to our Historic Image Database collection.