The Mower County Historical Society held its annual meeting and volunteer appreciation event on Thursday, March 21 in The Pioneer Building on the grounds of the Mower County Historical Society in Austin. A total of 75 members and volunteers attended.

The event kicked off at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour and dinner. The meeting started at 6:30 p.m., followed by guest speakers Mark Youngblood and Brian Mann, who talked about “Lyle Bottle Digging” as they shared their adventures of outhouse digging and searching for rare bottles from the past.

Highlights from the meeting included:

• Guests having the opportunity to see the new “Old Courthouse Exhibit,” featuring many artifacts and photos from the old courthouse;

• Election of new board trustees to the board of directors. Gene Anderson, Milly Burroughs and Diana Witt were all voted in for a second, three-year term, while James Braaten, Jim Churchill and Linda Miller were newly elected to serve on the board of directors; and

• Jeff Ollman, Pat Kitchings and Ardis Jensen were honored with Distinguished Service Awards as retiring members of the MCHS Board of Directors, while Dwight and Vickie Smith were honored as Outstanding Volunteers of the Year.

MCHS Executive Director Randal J. Forster was pleased to see so many members and volunteers attend.

“I was especially excited to see so many familiar faces at the annual meeting and volunteer appreciation event this year,” he said. “We had a very successful 2018 and this was an excellent opportunity for members of the Mower County Historical Society to celebrate the past year and see what is planned for 2019 and beyond.”

Barb Lewis, president of the Mower County Historical Society, served as the host for the event, along with all of the officers and board trustees of the society.

“We were glad to see so many people attend this year,” Lewis said.