MONDAY MORNING MUSEUM UPDATE – October 13, 2025 – Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum

In this week’s update: Svensk Hyllningsfest is this week, last 10% of written commitments for Pavilion renovations needed by Oct. 25, new general-interest genealogy workshop, and more!

In this 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 and looks ahead at what’s coming.

For October 6-12, 2025:

This week is the community-wide Svensk Hyllningsfest celebration on October 17 and 18! We are very pleased to be involved in a number of ways, and we hope you can join us!
-From 12:30-6:30 p.m. on Heritage Square on October 18 will be the inaugural Svensk Hyllningsfest Kubb Tournament! Details and registration at the link! If you haven’t played before, be sure to check out the “Intro to Kubb” course on October 17 behind 102 State St. downtown from 1-7 p.m.
-Our collections manager Lenora Lynam will be presenting a Swedish Genealogy Workshop both days from noon to 1 p.m. in Smoky Valley Virtual Charter School (SVVCS) (121 S. Main St.)
-During the Grand Parade from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, watch for two parade entries related to the museum – one highlighting the many images and films available in the Historic Image Database and one being the return of a nearly 40-year-old historic float in the “Lutefisk” miniature boat – originally dating to the late 1980s.
-Folkdanslag Swedish Dancers will invite the public to dance on Heritage Square starting at 4:30 p.m. around the Midsummer’s Pole.
-Tom Holmquist will be presenting a brief history of the Old Mill at SVVCS at 1 p.m. on Oct. 17.
-We will have a booth at the “Bondemarknad” (farmers market) both days of the festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Stop by on Lincoln Street between city hall and the JO Sundstrom Conference Center to learn more about the museum and pick up a selection of homemade goods available from our gift shop!
-We will be running a half-price admission special to the museum on Saturday, October 18 of just $5 per person!
Discover ALL of the many exciting events that are part of this wonderful community festival at www.svenskhyllningsfest.org!
Last week, we received six new contributions or commitments to the “Raise the Roof” portion of the 1904 Swedish Pavilion repairs fundraising campaign – totaling $16,250!
This now puts us at 90% of the tax credits grant used and remaining donation capacity of $24,339.75.
Tax credits are still available for the 2025 tax year for donations under this campaign, BUT we recently received notification from the Department of Commerce that in November they will begin reallocating funds away from organizations that have not yet fully used their tax credits. This means that we need to present the department with at least written commitments or pledges totaling the remaining donation capacity by OCTOBER 25 or we risk losing the opportunity to offer tax credits to those donating to the Swedish Pavilion renovations.
Check out the story that KWCH ran last week on this topic!
Proceeds go to help with a new planned Pavilion roof that will be more durable and with a more historically accurate look! There are also opportunities to have a “roof tile” with custom wording added to a permanent honor wall to recognize contributions to replace the roof! Details are at the link below. The total contributed to the new roof is now more than $63,000. Eligible donations may qualify for a 70% fully refundable tax credit on Kansas taxes. Current pledges and received donations under the tax credits grant are $214,951.40.
Learn more at www.oldmillmuseum.org/raise-the-roof.
We are excited to be opening registration for the first “Discover Your Past” Virtual Genealogy Workshop, set for Saturday, January 31, 2026!
Rather than the usual focus on Swedish genealogy research resources, this time the sessions will be able to apply to any genealogy or family research, regardless of country background! Museum members can register with a $20 discount. We hope you can join us!
Last week we hosted Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) travel writers and representatives of the Kansas Department of Tourism in the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion! Our thanks to this group and to everyone who volunteered or spent time making this a special evening!
The next daylong Online Swedish Genealogy Workshop on Saturday, November 8 is open and available for registrations!
Aubrey met with a local roofing company regarding upcoming work on the main museum roof.
Staff met with CKA consulting on fundraising planning on Thursday.
The museum Board of Directors met for its regular meeting last Thursday evening.
Aubrey met with representatives on the museum potentially being part of the Smithsonian Democracy in Dialogue program.
We will be hosting the McPherson County Chamber Connections meeting on October 30 in the Swedish Pavilion.
We donated items for the Christmas Open House scavenger hunt.
Tyler continued working on scanning historic publications. Lenora completed a final report to the Smoky Valley Community Foundation grant that has been funding Tyler’s work, and she is currently preparing a new grant application to continue digitization efforts.
Lenora worked on two grant applications, with Adam giving suggestions and feedback.
Adam prepped and sent postcards and a direct email for an upcoming Volunteer Social event.
Lenora attended weekly coffee at Sunflower Terrace for continued community outreach.
Lenora assisted a researcher looking through microfilm archives at the museum. She also conducted research on the Hagstrom family for an upcoming planned presentation in the spring.
Lenora has continued working on an indexing project under contract with ArkivDigital.
Need a great gift for the genealogist or history enthusiast in your life? NEW in the museum gift shop, you can now purchase a gift certificate good for a free registration to one of the museum’s Online Swedish Genealogy Workshops anytime in 2025 ($50) or a 2025 Pursuing YOUR Past presentation ($10). Your gift recipient will receive a one-time-use code by email or mail good to pay for the registration fee for one of these popular sessions!