The legacy - Walworth County Historical Society

Walworth County Historical Society
The legacy
FALL 2013
OUR FIRST PROGRAM
AT THE NEWLY ACQUIRED HERITAGE HALL BUILDING
Come see the new Heritage Hall located at South Washington St. directly across
from the Webster House Museum. The Hall is the largest room in the former Betts Funeral Home that was purchased last year by WCHS to alleviate a critical space shortage in the existing buildings. Repairs and remodeling have been underway for a year
and Heritage Hall is the first part ready for use. On Thursday, September 19th at 7 pm
Paul Reckner, an archaeologist for the WI State Historical Society, will speak on his
recent work in the county in connection with proposed improvements for Hwy 20 in
East Troy.
Any time major road improvements are planned, Reckner is sent to the scene to see
if any archaeological sites such as cemeteries or Indian mounds might be disturbed in
the process. In his investigation near East Troy a very old building foundation was discovered on property owned by one of the earliest settlers, the Stephen Field family.
While still in the process, the site has uncovered hundreds of artifacts that have been
given to the East Troy Historical Society. Reckner has pictures and will describe this
fascinating process to us.
Our next program to be held in the newly acquired building will be a new area devoted to veterans and history dating back to World War II. Hopefully it will be finished and
ready for opening by Veterans Day on November 11th.
Page 2
THE LEGACY
Calendar for 2013
Friends of the Museum meet the 3rd
Tuesday of every month at the
Webster House Museum
__________
Sept. 21st 10 am @ Heritage Hall
Alpha Delta Kappa meeting
__________
Sept. 25th 10:30 am @ Heritage Hall
Questors meeting
___________
Oct. 1st 2 pm @ Resource Center
Board of Directors meeting
____________
Oct. 10th 9am-2pm @ Blooming
Prairie School & Webster House
Museum
Delavan school tour
__________
Oct. 15th 6:30 pm Heritage Hall
Annual Meeting
Dinner, Program, Election of Officers
__________
Doris Reinke Resource Center
210 S. Washington St., Elkhorn
Wed-Thurs 1-4 pm or by
appointment 262-723-7848
FALL 2013
Veteran’s Memorabilia To Be
Displayed In Heritage Hall
The Walworth
County Council of
the American Legion has been
looking for space
to store and display military artifacts. They need
room to preserve
the history of the
county troops.
David Bretl,
county administrator, and Bob Webster, American
Legion, contacted the Society to
see if space might be available
in our new facility.
The WCHS Board of Directors
felt that our location was ideal
for this project and a room was
offered. The Legion will assist
in setting up the display. Items
such as flags, uniforms, letters, medals, pictures, etc.
will be on view.
It is fitting that
the first exhibit in
the new building will
be a tribute to Walworth County veterans.
FALL 2013
THE LEGACY
NEWS
NEW WCHS EMAIL ADDRESSES
Walworth County Historical Society no longer
has an email address with elknet.net. Please do
not send to this address. Our current address is:
walcohistory@tds.net for general inquiries and
mail or
walworthchsnewsletter@gmail.com for newsletter information or donated articles.
Page 3
BEQUEST
WCHS received a liberal bequest
in the will of Ruth Cook, in which
has covered most of the expenses
for renovating Heritage Hall.
Howard and Ruth also provided
funds for the museum annex which
holds the large Cook mounted bird
collection. We are grateful for her
bequest. It has helped us so much.
COLLECTION OF GROCERY RECEIPTS
No more Piggly Wiggly receipts needed. Their
program is being phased out. The Sentry grocery store receipts are still being collected
though. Be sure to ask at the checkout counter
for a green sticker to be placed on the receipt.
2013 Annual Book Sale
The County Fair book sale netted almost
$4000. Thank you to all the volunteers who
worked there and those who donated books.
Filmed for Television
The Discovery Channel on television filmed
parts of Webster House for background of a
winter television program. The crew worked
here four hours.
Loss of a member
We are sad to report the
death of Katherine Yares
who volunteered to help in
several areas. She took
care of the Society scrapbooks and also helped regularly with the opening and
closing up of the Webster
House Museum.
Remodeling Update
Work at the new Heritage Hall is progressing.
The audio visual system has been installed. A
ramp and handicap accessible bathroom are finished. Glass cases have been obtained for displays.
COLLECTING,
PRESERVING
AND
SHARING
THE RICH HISTORY OF
WALWORTH COUNTY
Page 4
THE LEGACY
FALL 2013
continued on page 5
FALL 2013
THE LEGACY
Page 5
continued from page 4
The WALWORTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and appreciation to the volunteers that assisted in making our activities at the
164th WALWORTH COUNTY FAIR a success!
Thank you for volunteering to assist with the book
sale and the Sharon Town hall and the Blooming
Prairie School.
Katie Donoghue
Pat and Frank Eames
Gail Folkers
Marlene and Earl Hodek
Sue Kapanke
Deb Ketchum
John Kilkenny
Ronnie Kirkpatrick
Karen and Tom Kleist
Larry Kocha
Marianne Klemke
Allan Terry
Anna Warsinski
Lorraine Steinbicer
Merrybell Seeber
Marilyn Jacobsen
Pat Jankowski
Lianne Fritz
Margaret Janes
Dan Richardson
Don Rutkowski
Ilene Sheahan
Barbara Shreves
Ryan Schroeder
Barbara Steurer
Julie Taylor
Caroline Terry
Kay Sargent
Pat Blackmer
Major Acquisitions
A large number of items were given to the
Society this summer.
Tables and chairs for Heritage Hall by
Gwen Tveter.
Tablecloths for Heritage Hall by Gwen
Tveter
Cane chairs from Elkhorn’s Buckholtz
barbershop by Ken Amon.
AV (Audio video) equipment for Heritage Hall by an anonymous donor.
Numerous glass cabinets from Macy’s
Department store in Milwaukee.
Five drawer flat file and plat books from
David F. Abell.
Framed original sketch of Elkhorn Post
Office mural from the Rost family and the
U.S. Postal Department.
Cane sewing rocker and set of dishes from
Kay Kinne Law of North Carolina.
Page 6
THE LEGACY
FALL 2013
Annual Meeting on Tuesday October 15th at 6:30 PM
in Heritage Hall, corner of Rockwell & Washington Sts.
Turkey dinner prepared by Marshall Maxwell of Daddy
Maxwell’s. Cost is $20.00 per person.
MENU
Roast Turkey and natural gravy
Mashed potatoes, Sweet potatoes,
Green beans, Dressing, Cranberry Relish
Dessert: Pumpkin or Pecan Pie
Wine, Coffee, Tea, or Milk
DEADLINE FOR SIGN UP FRIDAY OCT. 11TH
CLIP AND RETURN RESERVATION FORM BELOW
Annual Meeting Dinner Reservation
October 15, 2013 at Heritage Hall
_____________ X $ 20.00 = _____________________
# of people
$ total
Send check to:
Donna Elbert, WCHS Treasurer
P.O. Box 1433
Williams Bay, WI 53191
FALL 2013
THE LEGACY
WALWORTH COUNTY
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
9 East Rockwell Street
P.O. BOX 273
ELKHORN, WI 53121
Phone: 262-723-4248
E-mail:
walcohistory@tds.net
Web Site:
www.walcohistory.org
Newsletter:
walworthchsnewsletter@
gmail.com
Officers
Doris Reinke
President
Dan Richardson
Vice-President
Gwen Tveter, Secretary
Donna Elbert, Treasurer
Board Members
Merrybell Seeber
Helene Hurdis
Frank Eames
Don Rutkowski
Ilene Sheahan
Pat Blackmer
Julie Taylor
Jim Boardman
Past President
Dan Richardson
Page 7
WALWORTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP
FORM
NAME________________________________________________
ADRESS______________________________________________
______________________________________________________
CITY________________STATE__________ZIP CODE________
TELEPHONE_____________________
E-MAIL______________________________________
Membership Level: (Check One) [ ] Single $15 [ ] Family $20
[ ] Contributing $25 [ ] Patron $50
Other:
Donation $_________________ [ ] Webster House Museum
[ ] Heritage Hall [ ] General Fund
Volunteering Interests: (check all that apply)
[ ] Computer Work (w/ Microsoft Publisher, Word, Excel, Access,
Other)
[ ] Photography [ ] Sewing and Fabric Conservation
[ ] Gardening [ ] Tour Guide (Docent) [ ] Research Assistant
[ ] Baking [ ] Painting & Maintenance [ ] Other __________
Please clip and send this form to: Walworth County Historical Society, P.O. Box 273,
Elkhorn, WI 53121
Our Wish List
Can you help out by contributing one or more from the
list below?
Contributions of these items will help keep our costs
down.
Paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap
Photos or your family members, places
and/or events from Walworth County
A copy of your Walworth County family history
Plastic cups, plates, bowls, napkins
Garbage bags, light bulbs, & postage stamps
We welcome and solicit articles, citations, and photographs by members and volunteers for possible publication in The Legacy.
Please send material or suggestions to: walworthchsnewsletter@gmail.com or WCHS, PO Box 273,
Elkhorn, WI 53121 or call (262) 723-7848.
Any articles must observe copyright restrictions and credit must be cited for material from other
sources. All decisions are final and rest with the editorial staff.
WALWORTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
www.walcohistory.org
CORNERS OF ROCKWELL & WASHINGTON STS
Webster House Museum: Wed thru Sat 1-5 pm 262-723-4248 (Seasonal)
Doris Reinke Resource Center: Wed & Thurs 1-4 pm 262-723-7848
Or By Appointments
“COLLECTING, PRESERVING AND SHARING THE RICH HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY”
Walworth County Historical Society
P.O. Box 273
Elkhorn, WI 53121