MONDAY MORNING MUSEUM UPDATE – November 11, 2024 – Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum

In this week’s update: first Match Month donation; Millfest Sponsorship, “The Photo Detective”, 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 November 4-10, 2024:

- Now through Giving Tuesday (December 3), donations made to the museum’s endowment with the Smoky Valley Community Foundation will be DOUBLED up to a total of $5,000, thanks to a match from the Patterson Family Foundation! This is a fantastic opportunity to make sure your giving dollars stretch further! Learn more details, as well as how to donate, HERE.
- We’re already off to a great start on donations made under the Match event, with Broadway RFD choosing to give ALL of the profits from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” performances in October to the Museum! On Saturday, they donated this $750 to the museum endowment, which will be doubled for $1,500 in total impact!
- Sponsorship Opportunities are now available for Millfest 2025 on May 3! In addition to general sponsorship opportunities, this year we are also providing a limited number of “Directed Sponsorship” for particular events and attractions – including face painting, the first-ever “Flour Power Pedal Pusher” tricycle race for kids, the Old Mill tours, and music performances. You can also donate items for the Silent Auction the day of Millfest or work with us to make another in-kind donation of products or services. Please CONTACT US to arrange your donation.
- Thanks to everyone who came out for Starry, Starry Night in Lindsborg last Saturday, and in particular those who also stopped by the museum’s Heritage Square for stargazing and some great talks on astronomy from the Salina Astronomy Club!
- We had a great presentation in the Historical Speaker Series with about 20 attendees last Saturday, November 9 on the topic of Swedish Churches of Southern Saline County. Keep an eye on www.oldmillmuseum.org/historical-speaker-series/#Churches for the recording of the presentation to be posted later this week.
  The Historic Speaker Series is a set of online talks in partnership with the Smoky Valley Historical Association featuring great historical figures in Lindsborg and Smoky Valley History. The next presentation in the series will be a reenactment of Carl Swensson in January 2025.
  Registration is completely FREE to the first 100 to sign up for each session and is made possible with a grant from Humanities Kansas.
- Progress is continuing on the ADA compliant sidewalk up to the main entrance of the museum! Framing went up for the rest of the walkway, and the remaining concrete was poured today. All that really is remaining is regrading the soil to the sides of the new concrete. This is a great step toward ensuring everyone can access the museum without barriers. This addition is being paid for with funds from the SPRINT Grant the museum received from Kansas Commerce.
- We have secured having Maureen Taylor – “The Photo Detective” – for the next Swedish Genealogy Workshop on February 15! Taylor is famous and prominent for her work in gathering historical and genealogical research from the details in historical photographs. She has appeared on television with The View and The Today Show, as well as being featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living and The New York Times. She’s a contributing editor to Family Tree Magazine.
- We remain at 59% on fundraising commitments under the Community Service Program (CSP) Tax Credits through the Kansas Department of Commerce. Read about all the latest here and let us know how much you are interested in contributing: www.oldmillmillmuseum.org/save-the-pavilion!
  We’ve had 36 individuals, families, and businesses commit to contribute to this progress to the tune of $141,634.25. We need about another $20,000 before the funding for the essential structural repair is secured.
  This is a great time of year to consider making a donation under the program as the end of the calendar tax year approaches!
  Any Kansas resident (or out-of-state resident who files a Kansas income tax return) can qualify to receive back a 70% fully refundable tax credit on their Kansas return with a donation of $250 or more to the project! The available tax credits will be used to enhance fundraising efforts for the Pavilion Restoration & Improvement Project. The credits are expected to raise $238,000 in donations, which will fully cover critical stabilization repairs to prevent collapse of the historic structure and will partially cover installation of a new, more historically accurate roof.
- We will have our next workshop with Pursuing YOUR Past on Saturday, February 1 on the topic of “Are YOU the Family Archivist? (What To Do With ALL the Family Stuff).” Watch here for more details coming soon on how to register.
- Adam processed six renewing memberships. Total current active membership is 165. You can become a member today at www.oldmillmuseum.org/members.
- Aubrey completed a “Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats” analysis on the museum.
- Adam and Aubrey attended the Kansas Museums Association conference in Fort Scott last Wednesday through Friday. It was a great opportunity for networking, learning, and gaining new ideas!
- The partnership with the Red Barn Studio continues, where they have the opportunity to scan their photo collection using our equipment, and we are able to keep a digital copy of each scanned photo for our collection as well!
- Lenora continued worked on digitizing the collection the museum’s tapes and DVDs, including preparing a grant application.
  - NOW OPEN: “Skeleton-Of-Dog… Selected Geology & Natural History Artifacts from the Bethany College Collection Archives” is a temporary mini-exhibit at the museum featuring some unique artifacts not seen in public for decades!
  - Our Endowment Campaign 2025 is ongoing 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!