WANDERINGS FROM YOUR PRESIDENT
BY GAYLE STUART
IS SPRING HERE??
The calendar tells us we should be doing our spring cleaning (house and yard) or at least thinking about it. Do you have boxes or closets that may have treasurers in them? Have you thought about your family history lately? Do you have a list of things you would like to find? A good family history is one that is never quite finished.
The Walnut Bureau is in the process of being digitized by the Walnut Public Library. As soon as it is up and running, we will let people know. Also Rick Blum has been putting some pictures on facebook that need names and identification. These are from negatives found in the Bureau building.
Have you ever looked at stones in a cemetery? We have put together a program of photos of tombstones taken around the country. There’s a light bulb for an electrician; at Hugo, Oklahoma where several circus people are buried, are tents, elephants, a wagon wheel, and a ringmaster. At Villisca, Iowa, one looks like a Civil War tent; Walnut has one with the VIN’s of cars that he owned. Some just say Grandmother. We ran across some with colored pictures of boats, tractors and lakes painted (?) on them. A fun program and available for showing at a meeting of your choice.
At the Danish Museum in Elk Horn there is going to be a program May 14th on “Coal Mining in Iowa.” This is part of the Brown Bag lunch series. It starts at 12:00 noon. You bring your own sack lunch and eat it during the talk.
There are also a number of exhibits changing now: Artworks from their vaults, March 28 – May 10; the history of beer and aquavit in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the drinking traditions of Scandinavian–American communities, April 24 – October 25; plus several more.
Hope the weather is done giving us surprises and that everyone can get out and enjoy.
gbs