Vigo County Historical Society
Annual Reports of the Society
- 2002
September, 2002
It seems as though I was just before you giving the
wrap-up of 2001 and here we are again! When I began to do this retrospective
“annual report” I became aware that as of December 13th, I begin my tenth year
as Executive Director. Almost a decade – isn’t that a word we usually find in
history books. As the saying goes – “time flies when you are having fun” – and
most of the time it has been fun!
September and October, 2001, were quickly consumed with the usual fall
activities of Bleemel Days, School Tours for 1,500 third grade students and
Fowler Park Pioneer Days at the Peker Cabin where we served our famous pumpkin
butter to over 4,000 visitors.
In addition to these activities, the renovation of the Dresser Birthplace was
underway. The good weather held and much work was accomplished throughout the
fall and winter.
The second year of our Festival of Wreaths was a success with over 30 wreaths
donated by local businesses and individuals. These were auctioned off in
November to benefit the Museum operating budget. New for the month was the
presentation of the second phase of the History Living Trilogy. “On the Banks of
the Wabash” was presented, free of charge, to 1,400 Vigo County fourth grade
students. You will recall this as part of the program that teaches local history
through the dramatic arts.
In December we were once again in the Peker Cabin at Fowler Park for the
traditional Christmas Walk. And, as usual, we coordinated our annual Holiday
Open House with the Farrington Grove Association Christmas Walk. The Open House
was very special this year because Colonel Vigo came home after a six-month
visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art Conservation Department. Thanks to
generous contributions from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Terre
Haute Chapter, Vigo County businesses, Foundations and patrons, the $10,000
repair and refurbishing of the Vigo Portrait was completed. Colonel Vigo looks
wonderful and is ready to face another 150 years.
We also had a great book signing for the wonderful “ Terre Haute & Vigo County
in Vintage Postcards” by co-authors Dorothy W. Jerse and John R. Becker, III.
We hung the “Closed” sign up for January and staff, volunteers and board members
spent the month at various chores around the Museum. Many of those things that
need time and space are accomplished while our doors are closed to visitors. One
of the big projects accomplished was the addition of shelving to the attic we
renovated last year, giving us additional, badly needed storage capacity.
February opened with what turned out to be one of my favorite special exhibits,
“Here Comes the Bride”. A dreary month came alive with the collection’s
beautiful bridal gowns and accessories and visitor comments seemed to share my
feeling that the exhibit was one of our best.
The State of Indiana, Department of Natural Resources final inspection of the
Dresser House renovation took place on February 19th and I held my breath as the
state inspectors reviewed our work. I am happy to report that they were
extremely pleased with the project and gave their blessing, without which we
would not have been able to collect the final payment from the State Grant. It
was a great feeling to have the project completed. And, if you haven’t been by –
do so – the house looks great!
Year four of History Living presentations of “The 3 R’s” kicked off on March 1st
and we were off and running with 24 one hour performances, again visiting all
the Vigo County elementary schools and doing a combined performance for the
Parochial and Christian Schools. Through grant monies from a private foundation,
we are able to continue to provide this successful project free of charge.
Development of the 5th grade program to complete the History Living Trilogy is
underway with the 2003-2004 school year as our target for presentation.
Also, during March we helped the Girl Scouts USA celebrate their 90th birthday
with an open house, exhibit of vintage uniforms and special activities each
weekend of the month. We also revived the holiday egg tree since the Girl Scouts
had done the last one in 1994.
On March 8th, Madame Brown and friends gave a party at the Rod & Gun Supper Club
to benefit the restoration of the tiffany styled canopy that was given to the
Society by the Indiana State University Foundation. I think those who attended
would agree that Madame certainly knows how to - in quotes! – “entertain”!!
April brought multiple activities to culmination. We helped the Terre Haute
Symphony celebrate it’s 75th anniversary, hosted our volunteers for lunch at
Sycamore Farms as a way of saying “thank you” to our devoted band of helpers and
again participated in the Artsfest with a Terre Haute Street Fair flower shop
booth. After weeks of good weather, sadly the weekend of the Artsfest fell
victim to torrential rain, wind and cold.
Those April showers did bring May flowers and a beautiful Friday evening at the
official opening for the donors to the renovation of the Dresser House, followed
by an Open House for the general public during the Herb Faire on Saturday. We
also hosted several end-of-school tours during the month of May.
Ghosts and Coca-Cola were the themes for June & July at the Museum. We were
visited by a crew from Indiana Ghost Trackers who are filming a video on four
famous Indiana ghost stories. Our own Stiffy Green was one of the subjects. And,
while they were here they conducted a search of the Museum for our two reported
ghosts and our ghost cat. It’s a long but fun story that I’ll save for another
time.
“Across Indiana” will be showing the video they shot at the Museum on the story
of the Coke bottle on Monday, October 7th at 7:30 on WFYI out of Indianapolis –
so plan to tune in.
In conjunction with the Vigo County Public Library, the Society held a program
at the Dresser House on August 10th as part of the Wabash River Corridor Walking
Weekend. All along the Wabash River cities held functions to draw attention to
our state’s official river. Our offering was a morning of “Reading by the River”
with excerpts from Theodore Dreiser’s “Hoosier Holiday”, “Snow Falling On
Cedars”, and assorted children’s books.
Well --- here we are full circle back in September for another Annual Dinner. I
told you time flies when you’re having fun. I recently found the article that
ran in the Tribune-Star of my first interview as Executive Director of the
Society. I was quoted as saying that I wanted to present Vigo County history in
a manner that was both educational and fun – and looking back I feel satisfied
that we are accomplishing that goal.
However, as we look to the future, the list is still long of things needed to
keep the Society and Museum viable – ongoing work on the wonderful collection in
our charge, recruitment of more volunteers and patrons, - and most important –
the expansion of the Museum to provide adequate storage space and meeting and
exhibit space accessible to all.
Through our programs, projects, tours and exhibits, we are sharing our heritage
in unique ways. With the help of you people – our volunteers, patrons and board
members and my dear friend and co-worker, Barbara Carney we will continue
striving to fulfill our mission to collect preserve and share the wonderful
history of Vigo County. I thank you all.