The Mower County Historical Society will be kicking off the fall season with an October vintage sale. The proceeds will be earmarked for an endowment fund, which they hope will help the MCHS be more sustainable.

“Once we get our endowment fund built up enough, we’ll be able to draw the interest off of that each year,” said curator Jaimie Timm. “It’s a more stable, reliable source of funding for us so we’re hoping to get that built up so we can start to benefit.”

Last year’s vintage sale had a wide variety of donated items, and MCHS Director Randy Forster anticipates the same thing for this year.

“It depends on what people want to donate, but I’m sure you’ll find a hidden treasure at our vintage sale,” he said.

The vintage sale is not the only fundraising event the MCHS will hold this year. The Christmas in the County event on Dec. 7-8 is the biggest MCHS fundraiser of the year.

The first day will be the pre-sale bake sale, which Forster said will be held earlier this year from 3-6 p.m. on Dec. 7. The main event will be on Dec. 8.

“We’ll have lots of activities for the kids and a silent auction, so you can bid on all sorts of gift baskets and get your holiday shopping done,” Forster said. “We have thousands of dollars worth of items donated to us from local businesses and members, so there are lots of great gift baskets available. We also have our annual raffle. We’re selling tickets right now, but the drawing for the raffle will take place at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8. Once again, we have a beautiful quilt donated and made by Virginia Bissen. She is from Rose Creek and she has made a beautiful quilt called ‘Civil War Reproductions.’ She makes a lot of quilts and we’re privileged to have her make a beautiful quilt for our raffle.”

Timm said that she is also applying for grant funds to develop educational traveling trunks.

“Essentially it’s a way to bring the museum to the school because we realize that teachers aren’t always able to bring their students out here,” she said. “We’re trying to focus on our educational programs over the next couple of years and this is the first step to give more than just tours for students. We’d like to do two trunks for fourth grade and two trunks for sixth grade. We are also hoping to get grant funding to work in our Agriculture Building, We really don’t have a display down there right now, so we would like to make that look nicer and include information.”

Forster also said the volunteer researcher Mitch Helle is continuing work on the Lyle Oral History Project, which he has been compiling with the use of Legacy Funding in preparation for Lyle’s sesquicentennial in 2020.

“It’s exciting that he’s documenting oral histories from one of our local communities,” Forster said.

Fall 2018 Events at the Mower County Historical Society

Times and events are subject to change. For more information, call 507-437-6082.

• Oct. 12-13: Holiday Vintage and Antique Sale, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (12) and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (13)

Stop by the Pioneer Building to find unique and distinctive holiday gifts to give and to keep.

• Oct. 21: Mower County Cemetery Tour, 1-3 p.m.

This bus tour will start at the Mower County Historical Society. Participants will tour three rural cemeteries and hear about those who lie there in rest. Cost is $10 for members of the Hormel Historic Home and Mower County Historical Society; $15 for non-members.

• Oct. 25: Lunchbox History Series, “The Vietnam Experience,” noon

This is a free presentation at the Pioneer Building at the Mower County Historical Society. Featured speaker is Al Smith. Bring a lunch and a friend.

• Dec. 7: Christmas in the County Pre-Sale Bake Sale, 3-6 p.m.

Cookies for sale of all shapes, sizes and flavors.

• Dec. 8: Christmas in the County, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wagon rides, kids activities, silent auction, food and bake sale, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Fun for the whole family! Raffle drawing at 3 p.m.