Preserving the Past by Pat Mulso

A Christmas concert will be at 3 p.m. today at United Methodist Church and 7 p.m. at St. Theodore Catholic Church. There will be lots of great Christmas music with Harmony Junction and Faith Tones, along with a good old-fashioned Christmas carol sing-along. A free will offering will be taken with the proceeds going to The Salvation Army and the Freeborn County Historical Society. Please plan to join us!

The museum is happy to announce that we will  host a special presentation by geographer/photographer Tobias Walther-Antonio at noon Jan. 16 in the museum meeting room. The title of his lecture is  “The Road as Protagonist for Landscape Morphology: Chronicling U.S. Highway 16 and Interstate 90 in Southern Minnesota, 1925 – 2015.” There will be local focus on Albert Lea/Freeborn County. He describes his lecture as follows, “As part of the United States Numbered Highways System approved in 1925, U.S. Hwy. 16 once extended across Southern Minnesota and passed through 25 towns located within the nine most southern counties of Minnesota. As part of Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways which passed in 1956, Interstate 90 became the successor road of U.S. 16 as the main east/west traffic artery in Southern

Minnesota by the late 1970’s. This research addresses how U.S. 16’s significance has changed over the decades and how those changes interrelate with the physical landscape, the individual communities and their travel-related businesses, population, land use, and the overall regional development due to the introduction of Interstate 90. Through comparative photography, data graphs, maps, aerial imagery, historical and geographical facts from the communities, detailed landscape morphology is illustrated.” Mark your calendars and plan to join us for this informative lecture.

The museum will host a four-hour AARP defensive driving refresher class from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 9. The cost is $20 for AARP members or $25 for non-members, which includes the class materials and administrative fee. You must pre-register for the class and will need your driver’s license to do so. The refresher course is needed every three years after the initial eight-hour class is taken to continue receiving a discount on your auto insurance. Call or stop by the museum to register during our regular business hours. You will receive your certificate at the end of the class. Our next class will be from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 6.

The date has been secured for a bus tour to see Marion Ross on April 2 at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas, as she is starring with Hal Linden in the play “Moon Over Buffalo,” by Ken Ludwig. In this comedy two fading stars of the 1950s are playing a comedy, and drama in rotation in Buffalo, New York. On the brink of a disastrous split-up, they receive word that they might just have one last shot at regaining their stardom. One perfect performance is all they need. Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong does. Plan on joining us for this great trip to see our hometown star live at New Theatre Restaurant. A $100 deposit is required by Jan. 2 to secure your spot on this weekend getaway. Call or stop by the museum for details.

With the end of the year just around the corner, we invite you to renew your museum membership now. This will help us to plan our budget for the new year. We also encourage you to consider a donation to help eliminate the balance due on our building expansion project. Your donations are tax deductible. We appreciate the continued support of the individuals and businesses that support the museum.

The museum will close at 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve and will be closed on Christmas Day and the following day. We will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 30 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 31. We will be closed on Jan.1 and Jan. 2, except from 1 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 2 when we will be open for my retirement party. I will write more on that subject in my article on Dec. 27.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year’s from all of us at the Freeborn County Historical Museum to each and every one in our community and reading area. May your holidays be safe, happy and healthy. Peace be with you now and throughout the season.

 

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum, Library and Village, 1031 Bridge Ave.