MONDAY MORNING MUSEUM UPDATE – March 18, 2024 – Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum

In this week’s update: Pavilion temporary closure, Millfest menu, axe throwing at Millfest, 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 11-17, 2024:

The Board of Directors of the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum voted on Thursday, March 14 to close the museum’s 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion to the public until structural stabilization repairs can be completed for safety reasons. Read more about the reasons for the closure, the plan for reopening, and how you can help HERE.
We continue planning for Millfest on Saturday, May 4.
Two exciting developments: First, we have one of our food truck vendors for the day confirmed – Paradise Eats out of Clyde, Kansas! Their planned menu is below.
Second, we have contracted with Oak & Iron Lanes (mobile axe throwing) out of Wichita to provide an axe throwing event activity as part of Millfest from noon to 3 p.m. For just $5, a guest will be able to purchase a wristband in the museum gift shop, which will give them unlimited times through the axe-throwing line while Oak & Iron is open during Millfest! We think this is a great addition to our biggest event of the year, which will also attract demographics who might not typically be interested in Millfest.

Sprowl Construction is scheduled to start installing the new Pavilion windows this Tuesday!
Wheat State Paint Co. started on the project to repaint the exterior of the Academy building last Saturday!
We will be partnering with the Smoky Valley Historical Association for a Humanities Kansas grant for a co-sponsored speaker series. We expect the series to most likely start in late June and to be available via Zoom so that they can be recorded and made available on YouTube. Watch for more details coming soon!
The Museum Handy Crew worked on painting the north side of the implement building on Heritage Square and cut and hauled away dead pampas grass in preparation for new spring growth.
Lenora helped two individuals who came in person for Swedish genealogy research assistance and one person who made the request by mail.
Work on the Historic Image Database is proceeding well, with now nearly 112,000 views and more than 4,300 images!
Edits on the commemorative history book of the Old Mill have been completed through Chapter 8!
Look for our upcoming ad in the Messiah Festival special section in the Lindsborg News-Record!

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!

A draft of the museum’s 2023 annual report has been prepared and should be publicly available in the next few weeks.
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!