In this week’s update: Solar Eclipse viewing party TODAY, schoolhouse roofing, museum porch repairs, 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 April 1-7, 2024:
- It’s Monday, April 8 and time for the Great American Eclipse! We’re holding a Solar Eclipse Viewing Party on the museum’s Heritage Square from 1-2:30 p.m.
It will be a partial eclipse here in Kansas, but this is a great option if you aren’t traveling for hours to Texas, Arkansas, or Missouri. The weather today is supposed to be in the low 70s and the skies are looking 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, coloring pages, and will have free “eclipse cookies” (vanilla and regular Oreos) courtesy of White’s Foodliner! Our thanks as well to McPherson Public Library, who has helped to provide us with some additional solar viewing glasses.
We’re also offering discounted museum admission of $5 per person to our eclipse party visitors!
- Raber Roofing started today on re-roofing our historical one-room schoolhouse. It’s going to look great!
Entrance gate to Heritage Square for eclipse viewing is behind the trucks and close to the school. Please exercise caution as you arrive for our solar eclipse event.
- Perfect Blend Construction is planning to start front porch repairs to the main museum building before the end of the week.
- We ordered two display-quality pictures to complete the 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 on the way!
- We added a new museum membership last week. Welcome to the family! Our total membership is now 162.
- Staff met with the Midsummer’s Festival committee last week to plan alternate locations for festival events at the museum given the Pavilion’s temporary closure.
- Adam gave a museum tour to 36 guests from the Derby Senior Center last Wednesday.
- Staff continued work on grant applications and grant documentation.
- The Museum Handy Crew spent some time checking the condition of popup tents for Millfest as well as working on shop storage organization in the basement of the Old Mill.
- Adam worked on several mailings related to our upcoming Millfest event on May 4!
- Adam delivered Millfest posters around Lindsborg. Didn’t get one and want one? Let us know!
- 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 still 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 still available! If we happened to have missed you with our mailing, no problem – just use the sponsorship form HERE.
- 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!
Thank you to our museum volunteers last week!
Tim Stewart, Carol Gusenius, Betty Amos, Julie Ann Neywick, Mike Koch, Jerry Hammerton, and Leland Nelson!