In this week’s update: DNA in genealogy research workshop, The Teichgraeber Legacy presentation, Magic at the Mill card tournament, 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 September 2-7, 2025:
- Pursuing YOUR Past – “DNA: There’s No EASY Button…Yet!” is THIS Saturday, September 13! This fantastic hourlong online presentation will cover the basics of using DNA in genealogy research and is just $10 or FREE for museum members!
Also, the next daylong Online Swedish Genealogy Workshop on November 8 is now open and available for registrations!
- For next week, be sure to sign up for a Zoom presentation on Theodore Teichgraeber, the owner of Smoky Valley Roller Mills when the current building was constructed in 1898, and the entire Teichgraeber family. Don Dunlap, Theo’s great-grandson, will be our special presenter for this unique opportunity. The FREE presentation will be at 3 p.m. on September 18. Visit www.oldmillmuseum.org/events/#Teichgraeber to sign up to attend.
- Prepurchase is also currently available for the second annual “Magic at the Mill” card tournament held at the museum on Saturday, September 20 – a week from Saturday. We are holding this evening of fun in collaboration with local gaming store Spelbok. It will be a prerelease “Spider-Man” set themed tournament for $54.99 or Open Casual Commander format for $10. Both registrations come with a rare evening/nighttime guided tour of the 1898 Smoky Valley Roller Mills! See you there!
- With stability repairs on the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion now complete, we are now in the “Raise the Roof” portion of the Pavilion repairs fundraising campaign.
Tax credits are still available for the 2025 tax year for donations under this campaign. Proceeds go to help with a new planned Pavilion roof that will be more durable and with a more historically accurate look! There will also be opportunities to have a “roof tile” with custom wording added to a permanent honor wall to recognize contributions to replace the roof; details will be coming soon.
After processing FIVE (!) contributions last week, the total contributed to the new roof is now more than $37,650. There is still capacity for more than $50,000 in donations possible under the grant, with eligible donations qualifying for a 70% fully refundable tax credit on Kansas taxes. Current pledges and received donations under the tax credits grant are $188,851.40.
Learn more at www.oldmillmuseum.org/raise-the-roof.
- Adam gave an Old Mill tour to about 20 people from a Derby homeschool group last Wednesday.
- The Museum Handy Crew focused on the area south of the Homestead cabin last week, clearing branches and clearing weeds. Thank you for this dedicated work to improve the appearance of the museum grounds!
- Two high school student volunteers supported grounds maintenance last Thursday by cleaning up sticks in the Old Mill Campground.
- Adam started organizing the Svensk Hyllningsfest float planning.
- Caroline is working with museum staff to prepare the museum’s application for the Heritage Trust Fund grant.
- Adam returned paperwork that will allow us to take the next steps on development of an exciting new product for the gift shop. Watch for more information to come!
- Adam accepted a donation of several five-gallon buckets of new exterior paint that will help us to beautify and restore several areas on the museum campus!
- Lenora attended coffee at Sunflower Terrace for continued community outreach.
- Tyler worked on Tuesday and Thursday scanning historic books and uploading them to Google Drive. Watch here for an announcement when they are fully available to the public!
- Lenora met for coffee on Tuesday at Sunflower Terrace.
- 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!
Thank you to our weekly volunteers!
Last week, volunteers included Betty Amos, Julie Ann Neywick, Teagan Miller, Kylan Lindquist, Jerry Hammerton, Leland Nelson, Karmon Almquist, and Michael Peterson!