Thanks to volunteers, Autumn in Village a success
Published 9:03 am Saturday, September 27, 2008
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to the 102 volunteers who made our “Autumn in the Village” a huge success! These volunteers together worked a total of 480 hours before, during and after our event to make the day a wonderful experience for all involved.
A special “thank you” to my staff, Linda Evenson, Kathy Freese, Lois Lunn, Kathy Mandt, Dave Mullenbach and full-time volunteer Louis Henderson who gave 100 percent plus to get everything ready and make the day run smoothly. Thank you to my family, my husband, Arnie, and to my sisters, Sandy and Linda and brothers-in-law, Marty and Bill that came from Ohio and South Dakota to help on Saturday with last minute details and all day Sunday with any thing that needed to be done. (My brother Larry and his wife Sue had planned to come also, but they are in the area of Ohio that has been without power for over a week from the wind storm that came through so they were not able to make it this year.)
A special thank you goes out to all those that helped with projects in the village this summer, such as those who helped to pour cement and gravel for our picnic area and trimming on the museum grounds. The roofing on the parsonage, parsonage foundation work, cleaning up the yard, trimming trees, cleaning the buildings, roofing the school, scraping and painting the shoe shop and mill. Also, thank you to those that helped with the work in the blacksmith shop and the woodworking shop.
We have also had the church scraped and painted and the roof will be replaced yet this fall. The addition of three structures in the village will be completed in the next few weeks. Rande Nelson is the building contractor. One is an extension over the machinery display so that we can protect the machinery from rain and snow. The second is over the railroad exhibit located to the east of the red barn which will protect that exhibit plus give us a place to gather if it rains during a tour or event. The third is a structure being built over the Livedalen log cabin to protect it from the elements, so that it can be enjoyed by generations in the future.
We are happy to announce that we have re-opened the parsonage in the village.
This unique building has been a favorite of many visitors over the years and has been closed for two years for needed repairs. We still need to scrape and paint it, but I think that will be a spring project.
We were very pleased with the support shown from the community for our event: From the 102 volunteers, to the coverage in the Albert Lea Tribune, coverage on Channel 6 and Channel 3, and radio coverage on KATE and Power 96. Also thank you to our local Hy-Vee store for donating some of our food products, Trails Travel Center for making the apple pies, the Moose Club for donating ice, the city of Albert Lea for loaning us extra picnic tables, the Freeborn County Ag Society for also loaning us picnic tables and to all the community members who came to enjoy the day.
We had 115 children under the age of 11 who enjoyed hands-on opportunities such as corn shelling and grinding, candle making, an archaeological dig, wagon rides, making Christmas ornaments, watching wooden whistles being made and participating in an old-fashioned spelling bee. The spelling bee winner was Gabrielle Maas.
There were demonstrators who came from within our county as well as Austin and Rochester to participate and make the day a success. Our attendance was the best ever with just over 600 attending and or working during the day.
We are proud to be located in Freeborn County where people are willing to pitch in and help when needed and we are happy to be “Building the Future by Preserving the Past.”
Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea.