This year is quickly coming to an end. You have just one week to check out the gingerbread house creations by CVTC students and only two weeks to see Play Ball. Much of this newsletter is about 2024, so get out your new calendar and make some plans for the new year. 

Museum hours : Tuesday, 5-8, Wednesday-Saturday 12-5.
Admission: $12/adult, $10 senior, $5 youth 5-17,free under 5 and members

Grant News

$6,500 awarded by Eau Claire Community Foundation - Women's Giving Circle

Sawmill activity in the Tall Tales exhibit. 

Chippewa Valley Museums received a $6,500 award from the Women's Giving Circle of the Eau Claire Community Foundation to renovate the logging museum's Tall Tales exhibit. First installed in 1999, this exhibit has seen a lot of love, and it shows. You'll find old favorites and new fun when the Tall Tales room opens this spring.

We're still looking for skilled folks to work on this project. If you have the time and interest, fill out this volunteer form. For questions, or to learn more, contact Tim Hirsch at 715-834-7871.

The Tall Tales project is also supported by grants from Eau Claire County and Xcel Energy Foundation.

Last Call for Reindeer Games

Schlegelmilch House Holiday Escape Room closes Jan. 1

This year’s holiday escape room at the Historic Schlegelmilch House only has a few openings before Christmas. However, there are still a number of open time slots December 26-January 1. This is a great way to spend time with family AND support the Chippewa Valley Museums. Win and win. Make a reservation using the button below.

What's Ahead for 2024

Adventures in History Book Club

Meets second Tuesdays at 6:30pm

If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to read more in 2024, we can help. The Adventures in History Book Club, co-sponsored by the LE Phillips Memorial Public Library, meets monthly at the museum to discuss, debate, celebrate, and share history books. The Book Club is open to everyone with no advance registration required. Meet up at the museum, or get your book talk on virtually at 6:30 pm on the second Tuesday of every month, excluding December.

Upcoming books:

• January 9: The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

• February 13: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

•  March 12: Enslaved, Indentured, Free: Five Black Women on the Upper Mississippi by Mary Elise Antoine. 

The books are available to borrow from LE Phillips Public Memorial Library or you can purchase your own. For questions, contact Angela Allred, 715-834-7871.

Art Will Fill the Museum

Opens January 23

Chippewa Valley Museum’s 2024 Winter Art Show will be on display from January 23 through March 23. 

Save These Dates

Tuesday, January 30,6-7:30 pm,Exhibit Opening Reception. Meet the artists and enjoy live jazz music with Jeremy Boettcher and Josh Gallagher. The reception includes light refreshments and cash bar. The opening reception has no admission fee, courtesy of sponsor Xcel Energy.

Saturday, February 17, 1-2:30 pm,Art Experience. Don Gaber hosts a gallery walk and talk about using reclaimed materials for his art work. Participants will create their own 3D pieces.

Tuesday, February 27, 6-7:30 pm,Art Experience. Barbara Koppang will share how she incorporates myths into her art to create pieces that give them the feel of an ancient talisman. Participants will personalize a 3D sculpted figure using provided materials.

Saturday, March 16, 1-2:30 pm, Art Experience. Raymond Kaselau demonstrates his inventive process of constructing architectureal-themed pieces. Participants will create the first layer of a group sculpture to be completed by Kaselau and then presented to the community.

Register for gallery talks through the calendar at cvmuseum.com.

14th Annual Folk Arts Festival

Saturday, February 24, 12-5 pm.

Mark your 2024 calendar for the museum's 14th Annual Folk Arts Festival. Old favorites will be back plus special presentations on beekeeping and honeymaking, pyrography, traditional toboggan building, puppetry, and nyckleharpa design. You don't want to miss it.

Wishing you peace and goodwill,

Carrie Ronnander
Chippewa Valley Museums Executive Director

P.S.  I'm stepping away from the usual local history postscript to ask for your help. The museum needs a new humidifier. Old Nort, as I've come to call this cranky humidifier, keeps thousands of photos and objects in great condition, when he works. Trouble is, Old Nort's work schedule is unpredictable. On the days Old Nort doesn't work, we press small room humidifiers into service. These humidifiers are poor subsitutes because they can't provide the required level of humidity to properly care for our treasured objects and photos.  The real solution is a new humidifier, estimated to cost $31,000 with labor.

With a gentle yet firm hand, we think we can coax Old Nort through another winter. But this has to be his last.

I sent out a snail mail letter a few weeks ago explaining the museum's need. To date, the museum has received $7,425 towards a new humdifier. That's a great start, but it's just a start.

Please make a gift to the museum in the next few months so that we can purchase a reliable humidifier and protect the objects entrusted to the museum's care. Let Old Nort retire.

P.P.S. I can't do it. I can't send off this newsletter without some local history. Since Play Ball is closing, here is one last baseball-focused postscript. This one was written by Assistant Curator Diana Peterson for the #CVMBaseball social media series.  

On May 24, 1901 the Menomonie Blue Caps announced that they had secured a game with the Nebraska Indians for July 16, 1901.

Who were the Nebraska Indians? Guy Green founded the barnstorming team in 1897. Of the nine players, six were Native Americans. They toured the country until 1914. The team’s record for this time period was 1237 wins, 336 losses, and 11 ties. According to baseball historian Jeffrey Powers-Beck, the “Nebraska Indians established an impressive reputation as one of the most formidable exhibition teams in the country. They out-hit, out-ran, and out-played their opposition consistently.” That consistency held true in Menomonie and the Blue Caps were defeated.