In this week’s update: FREE “Understanding Neurodiversity” workshop this Saturday, Alma Luise Olson presentation recording, last week for Millfest for Kids registrations, and more!
In our weekly update, keep up to date on what staff and volunteers at the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum are working on to lift up the history of Lindsborg and the surrounding region. This weekly update both looks back at what happened last week and looks ahead at what’s coming.
For February 17-23, 2025:
- We have a FREE workshop THIS Saturday, March 1 on “We’re All Different: Understanding Neurodiversity” in partnership with Square Holes and sponsored by Lindsborg Masonic Lodge #397! This workshop will start at 1 p.m. at the museum and is open to all!
- We had 17 registrants attend our FREE online Historical Speaker Series last Saturday on Alma Luise Olson – a Lindsborg resident and Bethany graduate who became a New York Times correspondent headquartered in Sweden! There is one more free presentation in this speaker series coming in March, which you can register for HERE. You can also watch the recording of the talk on Olson on YouTube HERE.
Alma Luise Olson - We are still taking reservations – but only through THIS Saturday, March 1 – for Millfest for Kids on Friday, May 2! Get in touch if your school or homeschool group would like to participate.
- We have an opportunity to help the museum while picking up a great computer tablet for yourself! Two of these have already been sold; get one of the three remaining before they sell out!
We recently used grant funds to purchase five Lenovo P11 (2nd gen) tablets to implement our first augmented reality tour of the 1898 Smoky Valley Roller Mills, only to discover that Lenovo sells slightly different builds of the tablet under the exact same model name. Unfortunately, that slight difference – most likely in the GPS location services – means it won’t work with the Wintor augmented reality app we’re using for the tour, and Amazon is not accepting a return of the tablets.
This means a great opportunity for you! You can purchase one of these never-used tablets (specifications here) with charging cord and AC adapter, plus a heavy duty protective case (with hand strap, shoulder strap, and kickstand) for $265, which just represents the cost we paid for each tablet and case. This will help us to recover the grant funds and purchase different tablets that will work with the tour app.
Contact us at oldmillmuseum@gmail.com to make arrangements for your purchase!
- We have available now sponsorship opportunities for Millfest 2025 on May 3! Details for doing YOUR part and details on how to sponsor are on the flyer below! Just get in touch at oldmillmuseum@gmail.com for more information.
- Adam processed a renewing museum membership.
- Adam worked on an application for a general operating funds grant through the Kansas Arts Commission. After recording a “pitch video,” it will be finalized and submitted this week.
- Museum staff placed an advertisement for a Kansas Section in the Midwest Travel Guide of USA Today.
- Aubrey worked on a grant to the Mellon Foundation.
- Aubrey worked on promotion and preparation for Millfest on May 3.
- Aubrey worked on the signage for the museum’s upcoming mini-exhibit.
- Adam worked on clearing snow from the museum property walkways on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Adam prepared and sent two online gift shop orders.
- Adam had a “fact-finding” call with a company that provides donor management and donor prospect software.
- Lenora gave a tour of the museum archives last week to the staff of the McPherson Public Library.
- Lenora coordinated education students from Bethany College using the archives for a research project on Thursday.
- Tyler and Lenora continued working on Svensk Hyllningsfest project, continuing to upload scanned images to Flickr. All of the available images for 1941 and most of 1948 have now been uploaded! There are now nearly 7,400 images preserved, garnering more than 294,000 all-time views across the collection.
- Lenora has continued working on an indexing project under contract with ArkivDigital.
- A batch of multimedia from the museum collection was returned last week. The digitization company is now working on preserving two boxes of VHS tapes.
- We don’t do this often, but if you haven’t yet “Liked” us on Facebook, can you take a moment to do so? We’d like to break 3,000 followers before springtime! (Currently our followers are at 2,697.) This kind of small action really does make a difference for our public visibility!
- Need a great gift for the genealogist or history enthusiast in your life? NEW in the museum gift shop, you can now purchase a gift certificate good for a free registration to one of the museum’s Online Swedish Genealogy Workshops anytime in 2025 ($50) or a 2025 Pursuing YOUR Past presentation ($10). Your gift recipient will receive a one-time-use code by email or mail good to pay for the registration fee for one of these popular sessions!
Thank you to our museum volunteers!
Last week, this included Ava Toll.