We’re blessed to have actress call Albert Lea her hometown

By Pat Mulso

Here we are beginning the second week of July. Where has the summer gone?

The Fourth of July weekend was filled with events for the whole family.

The museum started the weekend off with the preparation for Marion Ross to visit the museum and with the Company C, 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment setting up camp in the village at the Freeborn County Historical Museum.

Our fish fry fundraiser was Friday June 30, at the American Legion and was very successful.

A special thank you to the American Legion and the staff for helping us make this event run so smoothly.

A special thank you

to Vic Gilbertson for providing music during the evening.

A sincere thank you to all that helped with this event , whether you provided bars, sold tickets, set tables, served food, beverages or dessert, cleaned up or told a friend about the event, we thank you, because without all of these aspects of the event, it would not have been successful.

The Saturday evening event with Marion Ross and Paul Michael held at the Civic Theatre was an enjoyable evening with two delightful people.

They shared their memories as we reviewed Marion’s life from childhood to present and Paul’s career and how he and Marion met.

Sunday evening a special Heritage Club Reception was held for members of the Freeborn County Historical Museum Heritage Club. Marion Ross is the honorary chairwoman of the FCHM Heritage Club. It was an enjoyable evening with a special performance by Paul Michael with his fan, Marion, with her eyes twinkling, saying, &8220;Sing this song, Paul.&8221;

Albert Lea is truly blessed to have raised such a wonderful person who calls Albert Lea her hometown.

The sincerity that is evident in her every action and her willingness to listen to what others are thinking and

feeling

show what a wonderful person she is inside and one that we should be proud is from Albert Lea.

Monday morning Marion and Paul mingled with old friends and acquaintances from Albert Lea at a members-only reception at the Freeborn County Historical Museum.

She again shared her love for her hometown as she accepted a key to the city.

She shared her love for the museum and what we do there to promote the history and heritage of our community.

Marion’s sister, Alicia, was able to join us to share in the events of the weekend and made the trip back home even more special for Marion and Paul.

Monday afternoon began the lineup for the Third of July Parade.

Marion was the grand marshal for the parade and FCHM also had a float.

A special &8220;thank you&8221; to the education committee for making the float and to my grandchildren, Dylan and Morgan, for dressing up on the hot afternoon and waiting patiently for an hour and a half for the parade to start.

After the parade Morgan and I walked along the parade route to give out candy.

July 3 also happens to be Dylan’s birthday &045; he is 7 years old now!

In the middle of all of these events, we also had out-of-state guests: my sister Linda and her husband Bill from South Dakota and their grandchildren from Wyoming and my sister Deb and her husband Gary from Ohio were here to visit us and mother. They were impressed with the museum and all of the neat items we have there.

We aren’t sure, but Deb and Gary may come back in September for Autumn in the Village.

My brother and other sister from Ohio are planning to attend as well as my sister from South Dakota.

It may end up being a regular family reunion, but not quite as big. We have over 1,000 in attendance if we invite all of my mom’s family, but that’s a story for another day.

My son Jeramy, his wife Astrid and their children and granddaughter came over so the kids could all play together and we could get a quick cookout in before we all had to go our separate ways.

Mom wasn’t feeling well, so was not able to attend, but told us to have fun, but not to get into trouble.

I am glad that she was feeling better by Monday and able to be in the parade on the float for St John’s Lutheran Home.

I got a little ahead of myself in my last article as I was writing about Father’s Day and how we would have spent it when I was a kid.

I ended with us going to the fireworks and that is what happened on July Fourth and not on Father’s Day as I stated.

The events during the day would have been pretty much the same for both holidays and I guess I just let my mind wander ahead a few weeks too far.

By the time you read this article the recreation display will be set up in Heritage Hall and we will be looking forward to the busy week of visitors during fair week which will be here before we know it.

The painting has been completed on the exterior of the General Store. A special thank you to the Daybreakers Kiwanis for completing this project.

The club donated 107

hours to this project which included replacing some wood siding, scraping, priming, and painting.

We have a group that is adopting the Blacksmith and Woodworking Shop and will be making needed repairs and painting.

We have had to close the parsonage in the village because of safety issues.

We need to put a new foundation under the building before other repairs can be made.

The cement for the foundation has been donated, if we can find someone who can raise the building and we can raise the money to do so.

So, if you know someone or have some ideas, please give me a call at the museum.

The FCHM Education Committee will be selling refreshments before and during intermission at the melodrama at the Civic Theatre on July 11, 12, 13 and 14.

This will help to cover the loss of income we usually have from the melodrama being held at the FCHM.

Please come out and enjoy an evening of fun and laughter and support the activities of the community.

(Pat Mulso

is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum.)