In this week’s update: It’s Millfest week and there’s so much to share today! Read about Millfest, Millfest for Kids, $162K Nutt grant, Match Month results, and much 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 25-30, 2023:
News:
- It’s the week of Millfest! On Saturday, May 6, we’ll be celebrating 125 years since the construction of the Old Mill! Read all the latest updates on the events and activities for the day HERE. The day before – Friday, May 5 – we’ll be inviting hundreds of school-age kids to the museum for Millfest for Kids!
- On Wednesday, we were able to announce that we are receiving $162,810 from the Nutt Grant through the McPherson County Community Foundation! This generous grant will allow us to replace and renovate all windows and exterior paint on the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion!
- We had great results from April Match Month through the Smoky Valley Community Foundation! We had $1,000 donated to our endowment fund through the special match event, resulting in $2,000 total going to the endowment, thanks to the match! Thank you to everyone who gave!
- The Kansas House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate unanimously passed two resolutions on April 26 that recognized the 125th anniversary in 2023 of the Smoky Valley Roller Mills building in Lindsborg, Kansas. Rep. Les Mason sponsored House Resolution 6021, while Sen. Rick Wilborn sponsored Senate Resolution 1721. Adam Pracht, Marketing & Communications Director; and Kirsten Bruce, Board of Directors President, traveled to Topeka to accept the ceremonial Thanks to our state representatives for this support!
- Registration is open now for the next Swedish Genealogy Workshop on June 10! Purchase your reservation through the museum gift shop HERE!
All Staff
- Team meeting: Millfest and Millfest for Kids, Volunteer positions, timeline display edits, food truck additional options.
- Edits to special old mill exhibit design.
- (Primarily Caroline) Worked on a grant for a photo digitalization project.
- Announcement and photo op with Nutt grant announcement.
Lenora Lynam, Executive Director
- Daily bookkeeping (Bank deposits, bills, recording and reconciling transactions in accounting software.)
- Worked to resolve phone issues.
- Worked on two research requests.
- Coordinated to explore possibility of adding additional electric outlets by the museum gazebo.
- Prepared Millfest and Millfest for Kids signage.
- Picked up supplies for Millfest.
- Prepared 75 copies of the Mill history “Yellow Book.”
- Cleaned, organized, and priced items in the gift shop.
- Met with Bethany College students who will be helping to volunteer with Millfest for Kids.
- Arranged for additional scale house pens, letter openers, and wine corks in the gift shop for Millfest. Ensuring additional T-shirts arrive for Millfest.
- Arranged for Millfest vendors to be present for May 2 “Where’s Shane?” television segment.
Caroline de Filippis, Community Development Director
- Maintenance to membership records.
- Process Millfest sponsorships (Total Millfest sponsorships = $2,225. Thank you!) and donations.
- Thank you notes to Volunteer Workday volunteers.
- Work on strategic plan for exhibitions and committee organization.
- Coordinate on painting Swedish Pavilion.
- Communication and scheduling with potential Development Committee members.
- Create yard signs for $500+ Millfest sponsors.
- Print Millfest waivers.
- Update Constant Contact lists.
- Edits to Millfest program.
- Final confirmation of food trucks coming.
- Organize with possible volunteers coming for Millfest.
- Print additional Millfest VIP tickets.
- Set up Square account for processing cards.
- Start on coffee table book pre-order forms.
Adam Pracht, Marketing and Communications Director
- Social media posts, responding to multiple messages and comments. Sent Facebook invites to individuals expressing interest.
- Attended AdHoc.
- Finalized Millfest program and sent to printing.
- Travel to Topeka for accepting Kansas legislature resolutions.
- Arrange for Shane Konicki with “Where’s Shane?” segment on May 2.
- Coordinated with “Wandermore” travel blogger to come this week and for a KWCH reporter to cover it.
- Interviewed with Lucky Kidd of Ad Astra Radio for segment played last weekend.
- Arranged for freelance radio reporter to do radio story on Millfest.
- Confirmed elementary school singers for Millfest.
- Finalized and printed updated redesign of Mill history “Yellow Book.”
- Printed gift shop order shipping label.
- Replaced about a dozen burned out or missing light bulbs across museum properties.
- Fixed an issue with mill introduction video not playing.
- Coordinated borrowing 360 video camera from CVB.
- Started in-house printing of items for Millfest.
- Wrote news releases about state resolutions and about the Nutt Grant announcement and sent to area journalists.
Caroline and Lenora
- Attended Lindsborg Cultural Directors meeting.
- Made decisions on ways to take credit cards during Millfest apart from the gift shop.
- Coordinate on Smoky Valley High School volunteer project and post pictures to Facebook.
Volunteers
- Cathy Ahlstedt and Carol Gusenius – Monday front desk coverage.
- Ron Wilson – Wednesday front desk coverage.
- Julie Ann Neywik – photo scanning.
- Tom & Marlysue Holmquist – cleaning out south room of Academy building for Millfest for Kids day.
- Mike Koch: Replace smoke detector batteries and attach sign for the Heritage Trust Fund grant to the nearby fence.
- Volunteers from the Workday – Mark Lackey, David Dunwoody, Larry & Rebecca VanDerWege, Holly Malm, Bill Chase, the Pracht family, and Becky Anderson.
- 15 students from Smoky Valley High School cleared brush on Heritage Square. Thanks to the adult volunteers and workers to helped make this happen as well: Larry & Rebecca VanDerWege, Becky Anderson, Mike Koch, Mark Lackey and staff; Lenora; and Caroline.