MONDAY MORNING MUSEUM UPDATE – April 1, 2024 – Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum

In this week’s update: 2023 Annual Report, Solar Eclipse viewing party, Millfest silent auction donations, and more!

In our weekly 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 last week and looks ahead at what’s coming.

For March 25-31, 2024:

Our 2023 Annual Report is now available online for everyone to read HERE.
Join us next Monday, April 8 on the museum’s Heritage Square from 1-2:30 p.m. for a viewing party of the solar eclipse!
It will be a partial eclipse here in Kansas, but this is a great option if you weren’t planning to travel for hours to Texas or Arkansas. The weather is supposed to be in the high 60s and the skies are predicted to be mostly clear. We will have a limited number of viewing glasses for sharing to see this rare event, materials to make your own pinhole camera, and will have free “eclipse cookies” (vanilla and regular Oreos) courtesy of White’s Foodliner!

We picked up an awesome donation from Lindsborg’s Collections and Essentials to be part of a silent auction fundraiser during Millfest on May 4! We’ll have a Myra Bag, Sunglasses and a Sunflower bucket hat to bit on. If you’d like to help out with Millfest in a similar way, please get in touch!

We’re planning a small temporary exhibit of natural history taxidermy as well as rocks and minerals. Many of these specimens haven’t been seen in decades. Watch for more details coming soon!
The Museum Handy Crew helped with painting and adding shelves to the display cases that the temporary exhibit will appear in. The crew also helped with cleaning up the the shop on Heritage Square and fixing a bathroom doorknob.
We added four new museum memberships last week. Welcome to the family!
Staff continued work on grant applications and grant documentation.
Wheat State Paint Co. has continued work on the Academy building’s exterior paint.
Raber Roofing was in last week for several planning items on the Old Mill powerhouse roof and guttering project.
The Historic Image Database continues its successful expansion, now with more than 4,800 images and 117,000 views.
We have extended our application period for a new museum Executive Director through April 30. Visit www.oldmillmuseum.org/careers for full details and application instructions.

Registration is now open for the next Swedish Genealogy Workshop on June 8! Limited to 100 attendees, we have four great new sessions in this online learning opportunity!

Registration is open for the “Researching in German Church Records” online workshop on April 13. This is free for museum members and just $10 for non-members!

Millfest sponsorship opportunities are now available! If we happened to have missed you with our mailing, no problem – just use the sponsorship form HERE.

Registration is open for “Millfest for Kids” on Friday, May 3, 2024. This is a “living history” event for children of all ages. Students and teachers will enjoy a variety of hands-on activities such as blacksmithing, ropemaking, spinning, quilting, music and more! Contact us at oldmillmuseum@gmail.com or call 785-227-3595 to reserve limited space. Demonstrators for the event are now being contacted and we already have about 500 kids registered to attend.
We have officially kicked off our Endowment Campaign 2025 to add $1 million to our endowment in supporting our annual operational budget to make sure that not only do we preserve these historical treasures, but we can also “keep the lights on.” Read more on the flyer and giving form below, or visit to www.oldmillmuseum.org/donations to learn more!