In this week’s update: $50,000 Museum Membership Match Challenge, Starry Night visitors, Heritage Christmas, 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 13-19, 2023:
- We have a year-end $50,000 Museum Membership Match Challenge! Right now anyone who buys a 2024 Lindsborg Museum membership will also secure a bonus to the museum worth three times the amount of the membership. It’s a perfect way to make donation dollars stretch farther this holiday season.With a generous challenge pledge of $50,000 from Julie-Ann Neywick – longtime museum supporter and volunteer – she will triple match any individual, family, and business memberships purchased between now and 5 p.m. Central Time on December 31.
The terms of the challenge mean that a $40 individual membership brings the museum another $120, a $60 family membership secures another $180, and getting a $125 business membership (which also grants membership benefits for up to 10 employees) will impressively secure an additional $375!
To become a member today, visit www.oldmillmuseum.org/members to purchase online or send a check to PO Box 94, Lindsborg, KS 67456 (including with the check the level of membership being purchased, email address, mailing address, full name, phone number, and indicating whether the museum’s biannual newsletter should be sent by email, mail, or both). Memberships can also be purchased with a credit or debit card over the phone by calling 785-227-3595 or in person at the museum at 120 E. Mill St., Lindsborg, Kansas, during museum hours of 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Saturday.
Learn more about the match challenge HERE.
- We were happy to be host as an alternate location during the “Starry, Starry Night” event last Saturday for people (who weren’t able to make it to the top of Coronado Heights) to view the night sky on Heritage Square instead. We had about 70 stargazer visitors check out the sights on a specially darkened square for the event, and one of those guests even discovered a special star-themed glass dala ornament in the Wild Dala Hunt!
(Photo by Rachell Goodwin.)
- We are inviting everyone to our annual Heritage Christmas event, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 9! Come to visit with Santa, enjoy music in the Swedish Pavilion, make decorated cookies and holiday crafts, tour the Old Mill, and – NEW! – join up for the Mayor’s Christmas Kaffe in the Train Depot! Admission is by-donation, with a recommended donation of $5 per person and a $4,000 goal for the event.
- The Historic Image Database continue to progress well with more than 1,900 images uploaded and more than 52,500 views since the start of the project at the end of September! Check it out for yourself at www.oldmillmuseum.org/historic-image-database!
- The “second-chance” match campaign through the Smoky Valley Community Foundation has been EXTENDED! While the deadline was originally set to be today (November 13), the opportunity to have your giving to the museum’s foundation fund has been extended through Tuesday, November 28 – Giving Tuesday.
So, right now your generosity with any new donations right now are DOUBLED (maximum per organization is $2,500). We’ve had several donations taking us past the halfway mark, but there’s still plenty of room to take advantage of this great opportunity.Help us to not leave this “free” money on the table with your gift today! There’s three easy and convenient ways to give:1) Leave a check at the Bank of Tescott Night Deposit slot (on Lindsborg Main Street). All checks should be written to SVCF and note “Lindsborg Old Mill Museum” in the memo field.2) Mail a check to SVCF P.O. Box 84, Lindsborg, KS 67456, postmarked by November 28.3) Give a donation online at https://bit.ly/MatchFall2023 by November 28. - We also 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!
