Pat Mulso, Preserving, Our Past

Happy Easter!

As I was growing up, preparing for Easter was a busy time with Wednesday night Lenten services and soup suppers and, of course, coloring Easter eggs.

At our church the youth group, along with the help of the Women&8217;s Guild, would color Easter eggs for anyone who ordered them as a fundraiser for our church youth trips. We must have colored at least 70 to 80 dozen eggs each time &8212; always on the Saturday before Easter. The eggs would either be picked up or delivered by Saturday night.

At our house, my dad was the one who hid the Easter eggs for us to find after we got home from church. We didn&8217;t get a lot of candy, but usually some jellybeans and a marshmallow bunny. My dad also did the cooking.

He usually made ham for Easter, along with mashed potatoes and gravy and a vegetable like peas or green beans. Then of course we would have pickled red beets with hard-boiled eggs.

Mom had been busy well in advance of the day, making us all new outfits for Easter.

She could whip up a new outfit in nothing flat and with five growing children it was a never-ending job to keep us all in clothes. In those days, you had Sunday clothes and shoes that were not worn any other time and you changed into everyday play clothes when you got home.

And as a girl you would have never dreamed of wearing slacks to church.

Times have changed, but the meaning of Easter still remains the same and with this being the first Easter without my mom, it&8217;s comforting to know that she is in a far better place now. I am thankful that I have my faith to comfort me in the loss of my mother.

Today would be a great day to visit someone who can no longer get out by themselves or who just might be touched by a visit from a friend or loved one.

This will be a busy week at the museum with the AARP Driver Safety refresher classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m.

The cost is $13 and you will enter the museum on the north side through the gate by the fairground entrance. Our tour guide orientation will be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

We have made many changes to the inside of the museum this winter and spring so there are lots of new things to see.

We are working diligently to get as many items out of the storage area and into sight so that the community can enjoy the items that we have.

Three weeks from Tuesday we will be opening the village for the season &8212; so we have plenty of projects to keep us busy.

We are also finishing our new displays and preparing for our visit with Marion Ross.

Marion will be at the museum on Wednesday, April 25, to cut the ribbon on her new display and to kick off our building expansion fundraiser.

The program will be at 1 p.m. in the lower level of the museum. Watch for my article on Sunday, April 22, for further details for the day.

I belong to C.L.O.V.E. (Council of Local Organizations for Volunteer Effectiveness) and we will be recognizing our volunteers during National Volunteer week, which is April 15-21. Volunteers will receive a purple ribbon to wear that week and many local businesses have generously offered specials for volunteers during that week. We would like to say thank you to all of our volunteers who help at the museum. We would not be where we are today without our volunteers.

Thank you again for everything you do. And thank you to the local businesses that are helping us honor our local volunteers.

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum.