Life at the Museum, June 2 - June 8

Ever wonder what happens at the museum all week long? Here's a one-week snapshot of museum activities:

• On the Water exhibit installation and U.S. Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship planning -- all week

• Sunday, June 2. Harp recital (private rental in museum auditorium)

• Monday, June 3. Meetings, too many to list.

• Tuesday, June 4th. Delong Middle School 6th grade visit. Bike tour for 14 guests. Two meeting room private rentals. 

• Wednesday, June 5th. Eleva Strum Summer School visit. American Red Cross Blood Drive -- 28 pints collected (goal was 21!) 

• Thursday, June 6th. Podcast recording. Circle Homeschool Co-op visit. 

• Friday, June 7th. June Dairy Month program at Oak Gardens Place Assisted Living Center in Altoona. 

• Saturday, June 8th. Vintage base ball "How To" program at logging museum. Base ball doubleheader. 

All this activity is supported in part by museum memberships, donations, and admissions. Thank you! 

Volunteer docent Darlene and Oak Gardens Place residents with their cheesehead hats.

2024 Teen Guides!

Seven teens just wrapped up Teen Guide orientation at the museum. During training teens went behind-the-scenes, spent a day at the Schlegelmilch House, and toured the logging camp buildings. They also practiced visitor service skills like answering phone calls and taking admission. Soon they will be welcoming visitors, scooping ice cream, leading guests on visits to historic buildings, and assisting with summer classes and outreach.

Welcome Claire, Kalep, Elijah, Stella, Ryan, Jensen, and Julia!

AmeriCorps Community Corps Positions at Museum

Two (2) AmeriCorps positions are open at Chippewa Valley Museums for the Sept 2024- Aug 2025 service term: full-time Program Assistant and half-time Outreach Assistant. AmeriCorps members will grow relationships and work to improve community health by engaging volunteers and supporting program opportunities at Chippewa Valley Museums. 

Benefits include meaningful work, living allowance, student loan forebearance, and an education award with the successful completion of the service term. 

Learn more and how to apply at cvmuseum.com. Application review begins immediately. Positions must be filled by August 12, 2024.

On the Water

Exhibit Opens June 18

Stop in this summer and take in our latest short-term exhibit. On the Water is a nostalgic look at summer recreation in the 1940s-1970s. The exhibit highlights Presto-manufactured George Martin’s outboard motors and the story of that production. The exhibit also delves into the formation of the Ski Sprites, Half Moon Lake beach, and resort life. Expect to see boats, fishing gear, and plenty of nostalgic images of time on or near the water.

Members -- RSVP today for the members and contributors opening on Monday, June 17. Call 715-834-7871 to RSVP.

Summer Music on the Lawn

Bring a chair or blanket to camp out on the museum lawn and listen to music. Music on the Lawn is free and open to all. In the event of rain music will move inside to the auditorium at the CVM main exhibit building. 

Sunday, July 7: 

• 1:00 Klezmazel, a group that “takes their cue from a 500-year-old tradition of ethnic music.”

• 2:00 Maple Ridge Band. Larry Finseth and his group return to the museum’s lawn with a lively mix of bluegrass, Americana, and old-timey tunes. 

Sunday, July 21

• 1:00 Guitar-violin duo Joe Thielen and Olaf Lind

• 2:00 Stefan Geisinger Band will bring “Rockin’ Blues” to the museum’s lawn for the first time. 

Enter to win tickets to the US Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championships at these Summer Music on the Lawn events!

Coming in August:

• August 1st - Jim Nelson, free, at Meet the Carvers Pre-Championship Party, 5-8pm.

• August 2nd - Irie Sol at the US Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship, 9pm with Andy Hanson opening at 8pm. Concert is included with event admission. Get tickets below.

Summer Walking Tours

What the River Saw: Disasters and Head Scratchers on the Chippewa

Monday, July 8, 6:30 pm OR 

Wednesday, July 17, 12:00 pm

Museum Archivist Jodi Kiffmeyer will lead this all-new 90-minute walking tour. Can’t make a Monday evening work? Take a lunchtime walk instead by joining a repeat tour at noon on July 17th.

Cost: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, $5 Students. $2 Member Discount [must log-in for discount]. Register online using buttons below or contact Angela Allred, 715-834-7871.

Echoes of Eau Claire: A Walking Tour through Lakeview Cemetery

August 8 OR August 15, 6:00 - 7:30

This journey through Lakeview Cemetery with volunteer guides Greg Kocken and Robert Gough will explore fascinating memorials and reveal the tapestry of lives connected to these monuments. The 90-minute walk will be over level ground but be prepared to encounter ghosts or other spectral creatures who have been reported to visit the cemetery in the evening. Registration is available online through the calendar at cvmuseum.com.

Start location and other details will be emailed to registrants the day prior to the tour. Rain date: Aug 22.

Cost: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, $5 Students. $2 Member Discount [must log-in for discount]

Volunteer Help Needed

US Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship, Aug. 1-4

This major museum fundraiser and community event needs close to 200 volunteers. Volunteers receive free admission to the event and a t-shirt. Volunteers serving 4+ hours also receive a meal. But the biggest reason to help out? Volunteers help the museum raise the funds it vitally needs to do all the things it does. No volunteers = no chainsaw event = no money.

It's turtle nesting season and a few turtles have been spotted out and about in Carson Park. Last week a snapping turtle laid her eggs near the museum's sidewalk then slowly made her way back to Half Moon Lake. Watch the video to listen to the adorable young visitor who happened to be standing nearby while I recorded the turtle's march back to her habitat.

Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend. I hope you find time to remember and/or spend time with the special men in your life.

Peace,

Carrie Ronnander
Executive Director, Chippewa Valley Museums

PS - Volunteers and staff are now hand-scooping cones and building sundaes on Fridays and Saturdays in the museum's ice cream parlor. Below is a recent social media post about the museum's parlor along witha few extra details not shared online.

Chippewa Valley Museum Ice Cream Parlor, 1987.

June 7, 2024: More than 20 years ago – way back in the 1900s -- the museum’s ice cream parlor sat in the museum’s back corner. Today, that space is the Field section of the Farm Life exhibit. In the 1980s, the space was known as the Rural Heritage Wing and included a Main Street exhibit -- barbershop, medical office, dentist office, law office, and general store -- children's play area, and a floor of vintage farm machinery. 

The "old" ice cream parlor had a decidedly early 20th century feel and a teeny-tiny kitchen (it was so tiny two people could not pass each other side-by-side). Volunteers staffed the ice cream parlor every day of the week during the summer.

The solid marble soda fountain counter, still in use today, came from Dor Smith Ice Cream Parlor at 124 S. Barstow. William "Dorwin" Smith first opened his bakery and confectionary in the late 1890s, locating it at 301 N. Barstow. He moved Dor Smith into 124 S. Barstow in 1912, replacing the former Lemke Brothers confectionary and ice cream parlor.  

Downtown Eau Claire, early 1920s. Note Dor Smith location on left side of photo.

In 1922, Alfred Bjerke bought the Dor Smith counter and soda fountain accessories and took all of it to his drug store in Fall Creek. The Bjerke family donated the soda fountain to the Chippewa Valley Museum in 1979. 

I can’t say for sure when the ice cream parlor first began operating inside the museum, but it was definitely in place when the Rural Heritage exhibit opened in 1984. The museum relocated the ice cream parlor to its current location in 2003 as part of a building renovation and expansion project.

Two takeaways here 1) The museum has been operating an ice cream parlor for nearly 40 years, and 2) you should come get some ice cream. It is June Dairy Month after all. The Chippewa Valley Museum Ice Cream Parlor is open Friday and Saturday 1-5pm. We could be open more if there were more volunteers (hint, hint).