Lynne Taylor: Master Quilter
The first exhibit of the year-long "Heritage Quilt Days" is ready for viewing. We had a wonderful time today creating the final touches on the display apparatus for Lynne Taylor's extraordinary quilt collection. She has displayed 15 of her prize winning miniature and larger sized quilts. Lynne has won national and international awards for her work, and we are so fortunate to host her first cumulative exhibit. We have a little bit of stabilization work to do on the rack that we designed to present the quilts--but everything is ready to share with the public.We also changed all of the portable cases to reflect our "textiles" theme. We have a case of doll and baby quilts (historic); we have a thimble and sewing notions collections, a needlework sampler-type collection, and the Eckbank corner bench--made by a German craftsman--has found a place in the corner of the Main Gallery. It provides a nice spot to sit and look at picture books about Germany, and our regional confirmation books.
I cannot believe the team of workers we have here. A special thank you to everyone who has helped sponser, design, create, and do all of the carrying and lifting to make this new exhibit landscape work.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
Her Name is No Longer Mary
Do you remember how Sherlock Holmes always "pulled the rabbit out of the hat," but his famous side-kick, Dr. Watson, was the amazing researcher behind the scenes? Well, our own beloved author, Mary Dillon, will now officially be known (by me) as Dr. Watson. If Mary cannot find historic photographs or historical data on the east Perry County Region, then no one can find it! She is amazing, and I treasure her commitment to this region and our site. I asked her about a photograph of Pastor Gruber, the first pastor of the Paitzdorf, Missouri (now Uniontown) group. We have searched both high and low, and guess who found not only that picture but a picture of his son? You guessed it, Dr. Watson. Mary, we love you! The research need for this historic but illusive pic will be disclosed soon...I want to thank the research staff of Concordia Historical Institute for helping Mary locate the photographs.Please remember that we still sell copies of Mary Dillon's "Altenburg" and "Wittenberg" books. They are amazing photographic and historical documentaries of the region. The original price has been reduced. Give us a call if you would like us to ship one to you: 573-824-6070
We spent the mid-day with master quilter, Lynne Taylor. I am in awe of her talents, and she has worked with us to design a first-class exhibit. Our own, Delbert Schmidt designed a great display apparatus per our brainstorming with Lynne. We will open her exhibit Friday, Feb. 3. It will be displayed throughout the Scenic Drive.
Also during the Scenic Drive, we will have a preview of the National Quilt Museum's "New Quilts From an Old Favorite-Orange Peel" exhibit. The full exhibit will opened on May 1.
If you are looking for some deep mid-winter entertainment, come and check out our "History Books on CD" library. Selections from this awesome collection may be checked out free of charge. Think about spending your day with Paul Revere, George and Martha Washington, or maybe even in the midst of great European history landscapes.
Director's Greyhound Update: On the eve. of what our Historical Society president Warren calls, my "half-century birthday," our amazing brindle greyhound, Jack, was running back into the house from the dog run, and he caught his side on the rail of the deck steps. He ripped his side open, and had to have surgery to repair his wounds. My biggest worry was that greyhounds do not handle anethesia well. I'm pleased to report that Dr. Elizabeth at the emergency vet hospital did a super job, and Jack is doing great. Whew, these furry family members can sure pull at the heartstrings. That was a tough one with a great outcome. The cool thing that came out of all of it was that Dr. Elizabeth has a dream of creating a blood bank for dogs. Greyhounds happen to typically be "universal donors." Some vet hospitals and schools have greyhounds on site for this purpose. She shared her dream with us, and I hope we can help. The regional greyhound rescue group, Cape GPA, does so much to educate folks about these amazing creatures, and they are going to have an article on greyhounds as blood donors in their next newsletter. Two of the leaders of this group, the Harbisons, helped us keep an eye on Jack during his post-surgical recovery so that my family could go out and celebrate my birthday. They are amazing people!
Take Care,
Carla L. Jordan
Heritage Quilt Days 2012
Heritage Quilt Days will be our theme throughout 2012. We have worked hard to provide our patrons with some super exhibits for the next 9 months--then we will be putting the Christmas trees back up! Remember, our museum galleries are open daily, and there is no admission fee.I am pleased to officially announce our season of exhibiting and events for 2012:
Feb.3-April 30: World-class quilter, Lynn Taylor will be exhibiting her miniature and larger quilts in our Main Gallery. Lynn recently won "Best of Show" at the National Quilt Museum for her miniature quilt entry. Lynn is a delight and we are so honored to be working with such an accomplished artist. Lynn is a retired art teacher from Scott City Elementary. She resides in Cape Girardeau with her husband, Gerald--also a retired teacher. We hope to feature some of Lynn's items in our gift shop during this time, also. Here is a nice article on Lynn Taylor if you want to know more:
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1737254.html
April 14: The East Perry County Cultural Alliance will be hosting a quilt show. We will post their flyer information as soon as it is available.
April 27-June 24: We will be hosting a traveling quilt exhibit from the National Quilt Museum. The title of the exhibit is: "New Quilts from an Old Favorite: Orange Peel." If you want to see some pre-glimpses of the exhibit go to:
www.quiltmuseum.org/nqof-orange-peel.html
We will have a preview of the exhibit available during the Scenic Drive. Lynn Taylor's quilts will also still be displayed during Scenic Drive. The full National Quilt Museum exhibit will be opened May 1.
We want to thank Vintage Software/and their "Antiquemalls.com" website, Ray & Carolyn Schmidt, Susan Fiehler, and the Trinity-Altenburg-Ladies' Aid for sponsoring this exhibit. We would not be able to bring this incredible display to our site without their support. The exhibit will be free to the public, daily 10am-4pm. It will be displayed in the Main Gallery.
June 29-Sept. 7: An exhibit of quilts that have been quilted by the regional Lutheran Ladies' Aid groups. More info. to come soon.
Sept. 14-Nov. 10: A Ken Steinhoff Photographic Exhibit of Regional History Photo Documentation-including Wittenberg, MO. More info. on this exhibit will be forthcoming. We are so honored to have Ken as a "friend of the museum." His photographic shoots are stunning, and you are going to be pleased with the Wittenberg shoots from the late 1960's-juxtaposed with current shots of the region.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
2012 Is Looking Good!
This evening we will be hosting the reception for the Messiah concert at Trinity Church, Altenburg. The Trinity choir will be performing a pre-concert at 2:45pm, and will be joining the large choir from Cape Girardeau for the Hallelujah Chorus. It will be the last viewing of the lovely Christmas Tree Exhibit. It has been delightful to share this beautiful display with all of our regional friends and folks from across the country. It is always a relief and a bit sad to take down the display. We have big plans for the exhibits for 2012, and I will disclose them to you this week. Our theme for the year will be "Heritage Quilt Days." We will have several special exhibits at the museum, hope to assist the East Perry County Cultural Alliance in preparing a one day show on April 14, and will host several activities involving the theme. More to come...We have received some new family history collections in the past few weeks. I want to thank Larry Brauener and Sandi Heidorn for their family stories. Our shelves of family stories are an amazing genealogical tool. They require hours and hours of dedication to prepare, and we are so thankful to have them as a part of our collection. Another family collection we received this week came from my friend, Heather Euler, in Canada. The connection to this area is from Wittenberg, through Hildegard Boese Bardon. There is also a Weinhold family connection through Josephine Weinhold. It contains great photographs and a lot of interesting narrative. Thank you, Heather, for this nice addition to our collection. Heather compiled the history and prepared this book with her brother, Michael Bardon, who is also a friend of our museum. I hope all of you can come back and see us soon.
Our museum staffer, Jessica Reisenbichler, is working on her Senior Honors project at SEMO, and she will be working on a translation/cataloging project with our German book collection over the next few months. We are eager to take the mammoth work that the late, Bob Fiehler, did with the collection and make it more ready for entering catalog data. Jessica will work on planning a system of proper housing for this significant and rare collection. We need to make sure that all of the important family histories in the historic Bibles are noted, and some of the other books need to be identified and ready for documentation in our system. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to have Jessica as a part of our team, and we thank her for wanting to contribute her time and expertise to conduct her project here.
As I left the museum late evening on Tuesday, I was struck by the beauty of the Log College Park. I want to again thank Zach Rhodes and Troop 5, Boy Scouts of America, for the lovely work they did to landscape this amazing site. The lighting is lovely with the combination of the street lights from the Kaempfe family project, the tax credits project funds, and Zach's Eagle Project. The end result is quite pleasing to see. One of my favorite parts of the project is the sculpture of the sheep between the Log College and the Loeber Cabin. The sheep is a symbol of the original flock, led by Pastor Loeber--the first pastor in Altenburg. Pastor Loeber did not take a call to anywhere else--he chose to stay here with his people and shepherded them through the early years of survival--into the new dawn of their establishment of a church and educational center in Missouri as new citizens of the United States. Pastor Loeber, in his writings, spoke to the descendants (us!) and told us to please remember how hard everyone worked here to clear the forest, and create a place for them. He was an inspirational writer, a hardworking pastor, and a great man. I will smile and think of him and his contribution to what we have today, everytime I see the little sheep sculpture. Pastor Loeber would also be pleased to know that the sculpture site is not just a "pretty thing" but provides a drainage opportunity for the area between the cabins--it is both beautiful and practical--keeping with the "way" of our ancestors.
We now have a "History Books on CD" lending collection as a part of the Zion Roots Research Library. This extensive collection was our Christmas gift from Ken and Judy Craft. The system for checking out a sound-book is easy to do, and we have numerous selections including: European history, military history, early American history, and historic biography. There are more than 75 selections.
I pray that 2012 is treating you well, so far. This blogger turns 50! on the 24th. In half a century I have accomplished a lot of dreams for myself, and have helped other people work toward their dreams. The dream of the Perry County Lutheran Historical Society is continuing to bloom on this deep mid-winter afternoon, and I thank God (and Frank Nickell) for encouraging me to take this journey to a little town in southeast Missouri.
Take Care,
Carla L. Jordan
The Bavarian Connection
According to Zion Roots Research Library creator, Ken Craft, the Paitzdorf/Uniontown churchbook records are "amazing." Pastor Gruber, in the earliest years, was quite the documentary historian. It is so wonderful when those who "take the notes" are thoughtful enough to take the time to write down details about locations where people lived, causes of death, the people that were present as sponsors, etc. etc. These details are wonderful for social historians and other family researchers. I can't wait to see the completed records. An expert on digitization is taking each page and modifying it for clarity using special software. Then each page is printed in large format color printing and placed in the archival folders for researcher's use. There will also be thumbdrive copies for digital use. Ken has painstakingly created an index for this book, because the previous recorded order in an earlier index does not match the documentation in the original book. The earlier index is still quite useful, but the reordering was necessary to use the books in the order they were written/printed. We have used the books several times this week. They come in handy for many reasons, but recently we have had to look up confirmation scriptures that are also used during funerals. The most interesting thing for me about the Paitzdorf/Uniontown records is a Bavarian connection--I will explain more soon.I'm looking forward to working with the exhibits committee on our upcoming Heritage Quilt Days at the Altenburg Museum. We will decide on the opening date for the exhibit, and will plan for the quilt artists that will be exhibited throughout the spring and possibly into the summer. We hope to also work with the East Perry County Cultural Alliance and Saxon Lutheran Memorial on joint project(s) during this time. More to come, soon...
I want to thank Florence Gruenwald and Gladys Engert for covering the museum on Saturday. Geri Falast and Gerard Fiehler will hold down the fort on Sunday. Please don't forget the "After Christmas Concert" performed by the East Perry County Chorale on Sunday. For time and more info. call the museum 573-824-6070. I'm writing this from my home office and do not have the time with me.
The "Messiah" will be performed at Trinity Church, Altenburg, on January 15, at 3:00p.m. There will be a reception following the concert at the museum. We will leave the Christmas Exhibit up until after that time.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
Visitors From My Past
Today we hosted a van load of friends from Northside Christian Chuirch in St. Louis, Missouri. It was so great that Rev. Dr. Judith Ridlen brought members of her congregation to see our site. I was fortunate enough to give part of the tour, and frankly I have not done that for awhile because we have such competent docents. It was refreshing and fun to get back in the saddle of answering questions and telling our museum story. Northside is within the denomination of The Disciples of Christ. I was raised-in my first 18 years of life--in the Disciples Church, and my mom and Doc are very active in the Abbey Road Disciples congregaton in Cape Girardeau--I participate with them when I can. Doc's father was a pastor in the DOC church for more than 50 years. It was fun to spend the morning with this terrific group from Northside Christian, and I hope they will come back and see our exhibits in the spring.Today we celebrated the life of Milton Hecht, 1925-2011. He passed away on December 31. At least 38 of his family members gathered at the museum prior to the funeral. What a good looking and sweet group of folks they were. I was happy that we still had the Christmas exhibit available for them to enjoy. They all wandered and reunited as family members and visited.
We are working on the next exhibit schedule for the deep mid-winter and early spring. We will also be supporting museum staffer, Jessica Reisenbichler, with her honors project for her senior year in the Historic Preservation Program at SEMO. Jessica will be cataloging German books (she has language skills, also.) She will be housing/shelving the books in muslin cases, interpreting their data, and getting them ready for digital entry into our catalog.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
Happy New Year
It was a superb year for the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum. We had an increase of 570 visitors over last year. That is a tremendous accomplishment for a small rural heritage center that is "off the beaten path." The Christmas Tree Exhibit will be up until January 16th. We will open a "Heritage Quilt" exhibit during the Scenic Drive in the spring.The Zion Roots research library is booming. The Paitzdorf/Uniontown churchbooks are currently being processed and printed.
I want to thank all of the people who have helped us "keep the doors open" this year. We have been showered with the time, treasure, and talent of so many people. From donations of money, donations of artifacts, student participation at our site, Boy Scout projects, study classes, Zion Roots researchers, and the beautiful people who walk through the doors to visit everyday.
I will post a larger "annual overview" blog very soon. I'm off to look at goals for the year.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
Angels We Have Heard on High
The weekend has been a stunner! We had more than 700 visitors over the 2 nights of the "Christmas Country Church Tour." We are expecting another 150+ at the Trinity Church, Altenburg, choir concert reception tonight. It is a wonderful thing! All of the trees fill folks with joy, and we have been able to witness their happiness. It is hard to be a "Grinch" in the museum right now. I am so thankful for all of the museum staffers who have worked so hard the past month. Thank you.It was also terrific to see all of our friends from the Altenburg Public School on Thursday. What an awesome group of kids.
I also had fun with Mrs. Koeberl's Kindergarten class from United in Christ Lutheran School, and earlier in the month, Mrs. Miesner's group from the Rainbow Preschool. We read our traditional Christmas tree story, and both of these groups treated me with a lovely Christmas carol.
I'm off to Altenburg to keep the museum open prior to the concert. I wish all of you a wonderful, peaceful Christmas. Our Christ Child was born in a "stable" and I wish for all of you "stability" and joy throughout the New Year.
With Love,
Carla L. Jordan
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I went in for a fitness evaluation this past week relating to our health insurance premiums, and I am going to be working on the goal of "flexibility" and "stability" in walking this next year. My balance has deteriorated due to having M.S. for 20 years, and there are wonderful things that rehabilitation specialists can do to help my physical flexibiity and walking stability. HOWEVER, when I was thinking about these personal goals, I decided that I am going to work with being a more flexibile and stabile person emotionally, as well. I have a pretty good dose of stability already, but I think working on peace, balance, and de-stressing our lives can always be a help for longivity in fulfilling our life dreams. And as for flexibility, this is something I have to work on all the time. When you are a person with a gift for planning big things, a person with some God-given vision, and someone who leads people, flexiblity is hard to come by, but a GREAT thing to practice. Please pray for me as I work on these physical and mental goals for 2012.We had a boom of visitors this past week. The local media coverage of our Christmas tree display has helped. While I was working at the desk, a mom and daughter were touring the Main Gallery, and I heard a lovely tiny voice singing the "Glorias" from Angels We have Heard on High. This little child was inspired by the trees, and starting singing her Christams program song--I was touched.
Gerard Fiehler and Ken Craft had a great day of digitizing the Paitzdorf/Uniontown church book records at Concordia Historical Institute on Wednesday. A special thanks to archivist, Rev. Marvin Huggins--and his staff for making this important project possible. The next step for those records is Photoshop improvements and copying them into the portfolios and creating digital copies. This is a big job, but we are making great efforts.
Tomorrow is the Christmas Home Tour in east Perry County. The tour will help fund the United in Christ Lutheran School trip to Washington, D.C. The museum will be open during the tour for visitors, and tickets for the tour can still be purchased at the school, and at our site and Saxon Lutheran Memorial tomorrow. I wish them luck--it is such an awesome idea and effort.
I will be narrating a cantata at Abbey Road Christian Church, in Cape Girardeau, on Sunday. The beautiful cantata was written by David Giles and Dr. Steve Jordan. The performance is during the worship service at 10:30 a.m. and there is no charge. Come and join us. Abbey Road is just off Lexington Avenue.
I had fun teaching the advanced "site administration" course for Dr. Rhodes yesterday at Southeast Missouri State University. Our relationship with the university is important to me, and I always walk away from working with the students with a lot of hope for the future. I talked with them about non-profit administration, museum admin. needs, and my work in Kansas and Oklahoma, specifically on Route 66.
I'm going to take the greyhounds for a little stroll while the sun is shining a bit. It has been a lovely couple of days.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
The museum is such a tribute to Advent! Purple has historically been the color of "waiting for Christ"--I think many Lutheran paraments are now blue (don't know the answer to that one)--anyway, we have a lovely tree in the foyer covered with purple lights. I try to ask people who visit which tree is their favorite, and the purple tree frequently makes the top of their list.We had our annual museum staff party on Saturday and we played a fun game. Everyone brought a small gift, and all were asked to share a Christmas memory or story. After each person shared her/his story, they then gave their gift to someone else so they could then tell their story. One of the reoccuring stories (that I had NEVER heard) was about the Christmas parlor. It was evidently an east Perry County tradition for the adults to decorate the family parlor or living room and to lock it down until after church services on Christmas Eve. When the family would return home from services the parlor was opened and Santa would have arrived! That is such an awesome tradition. The Christmas hymns were then sung for the first time that season, and many remembered the bags containing an orange, orange slice candies, peanuts, and other treats. A couple of people shared that when they were young their homes had no electricity. In one family they used the tractor battery to light the 9 bulbs on the tree, and in the other story the family used a car battery to light the tree and it could only be lit for about 15 minutes at a time! There were stories of Christmas program rehearsals, traditional Christmas baked goods, a long walk and hitch hiking home from military service to suprise family on Christmas Eve, a baby born at Christmas, a Christmas Eve marriage proposal, a stinky Santa Claus, and so much more. Whatever your family traditions are, I hope they fill you with joy this season. I am looking forward to listening to beautiful music, eating fun traditional foods with my family and friends, and resting a bit.
Gerard Fiehler and Ken Craft will travel to St. Louis on Wednesday to Concordia Historial Institute. They will be digitizing the Paitzdorf/Uniontown church book records for use in the Zion Roots Research Library. The large portfolios with the enhanced digital records are ready for researchers who have interests in the Altenburg, Frohna, and New Wells records. We are currently working on our digitization goals for 2012.
I want to thank the Southeast Missourian for their great feature article on the Christmas tree exhibit in this morning's paper. They also have a free "events" service that we have participated in and it has brought us numerous guests already. The Perryville Republic Monitor should have a story this week. Thanks to ALL of the regional media for your support.
I'm looking forward to the annual reading of a Christmas tree story to the local preschool and younger school-age children. The story is about a large evergreen tree that is never picked at the local Christmas tree farm because he is too big. The birds and small animals that find shelter in the tree decorate it for Christmas with things they find in nature. It is a lovely story of friendship, and I use our very own large "Perry County Woodlands" tree as an example. This tree is decorated with berries, dried plants, and has numerous birds, and small animals peeking from the branches.
We will also be one of the places hosting visitors during the regional Christmas House Tour next Saturday. Visitors will buy a ticket to support the United in Christ Lutheran School trip to Washington D.C. Give us a call or check out their site on Facebook for more information.
We will host the reception for the Trinity Church Christmas choir concert on Dec. 18, and we will host a reception for a presentation of "The Messiah" that will be performed at Trinity Church on January 15. The museum is a great place to bring your organization, church group, club, or family members. We are decorated, you can visit for free, and it is a magical place to be this time of year and always.
Tomorrow a historic preservation "historic site administration" course from SEMO will be visiting the museum for a class-specific tour and lecture. I will then travel to their classroom on Thursday for a follow-up lecture. It is always a treat to host our friends from SEMO at the site, and the students are an important part of our educational mission.
I hope that things will slow down a little bit so that I can catch my blogging friends up on all of the wonderful things that have happened at the museum. I have enough stories collected to tell you to ease the deep mid-winter.
Take Care,
Carla Jordan
<< Older Posts
