“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” the theme of the holiday display at the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum, runs through Dec. 16, when the museum will close for the winter months.

Display Volunteers Judy Montgomery and Laura Jamrog have decorated the museum’s tall tree with tinsel, tinsel garland, old-style ornaments and lights. They also are staging a small scene from the museum’s Eastlake parlor set with a military family. Toys adorn the tree skirt and trimmings of pine are included.

As part of the display, the museum received several hundred poinsettia cards with envelopes. The poinsettia painting from which the cards were printed, was done in 1990 by the late Jill Boepple, a museum, member, volunteer, artist, and daughter of the museum’s founder, JoAnn Boepple. These are being sold in packages of five.’

The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays though Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

The scope of local architectural design, both in homes and other buildings, will be the main focus of the 2023 season at the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum. Cap that with a traditional “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” display, and this year’s exhibits promise eclectic photographic images and special touches by the museum’s volunteers.

“Edwardsburg Architecture Throughout the Years” will include structures from the museum’s entire geographic area, and will be captured in two parts. The first, focused on houses, will run from May 16 through Aug. 20. The second will highlight special buildings, including structures on the state and/or National Registry of Historic Places.  Dates for that exhibit will be Aug. 22 through Oct. 31.

The third and final exhibit will be compiled by the museum’s advisory design committee, headed by Laura Jamrog and Judy Montgomery. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” will include pieces from the museum’s collection. It will run from Nov. 3 through Dec. 16.

Local architectural photography by Bonnie Elder and Maureen Barnosky will capture special features of up to 20 homes in the museum’s coverage area in the first exhibit. Included will be both homes that are historic in nature, and homes more recently constructed. The exhibit will target everything from rural homes in the 1800s to homes in neighborhoods outside of the Village of Edwardsburg, including lake houses. Emphasis will be on architectural styles and information on the owners and builders, all put into a timeline.

Additional pieces associated with the homes throughout the district will be presented.

The architectural exhibits will be complemented by an evening lecture on June 15 by Edwardsburg Native and Architect Tony Leininger.

The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays from mid-May to mid-December each year.

Tony Leininger

7 p.m.

Thurs., June 15

Architecture in rural areas often has been labeled ‘vernacular,’ meaning that it combined defined architectural styles with what was functional and locally available in terms of materials. That will be the focal point of a June presentation by Tony Leininger, who grew up in Edwardsburg and, because of needed additional space, recently based his business in Niles.

Leininger was reared on Eagle Lake, where he watched the construction of his family’s home, and which, he says, instilled in him ‘my love for architecture.’

An Edwardsburg High School graduate, he received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati in 1985.

He founded the CARMI Design Group and has decades of architectural and engineering experience. He has designed and managed the construction of various projects throughout the Midwest. Those include educational and healthcare facilities, and religious, office, retail, industrial, and residential buildings. Leininger also has been extensively involved with professional associations and local organizations, and has volunteered locally for the museum, the Barnswallow Theatre, and the Edwardsburg Food Pantry.

He has received numerous awards for his work.

His lecture will complement the museum’s two architectural exhibits this summer and fall. He will focus on the works that are on display and encourage those in attendance to be part of the dialogue. Because he says that he ‘loves porches,’ they will be included in his presentation.

Bill and Julie Stack

7 p.m.,

Thurs., Aug. 17

Longtime Resident Bill Stack and his daughter, Julie, will speak about their lives in Edwardsburg when they speak at the museum in August. Bill, who moved from Niles to Edwardsburg when he was six, graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1952. He served in the United States Air Force, and married his wife, Genevieve (Genny), in 1954. She died in 2016. After his discharge, he worked part-time for his father, George Stack, in his local auto repair business, and full-time for Williams Products and Belvedere Corporation, both in Elkhart.

Stack is past commander of the American Legion, belongs to the Edwardsburg St. Peter’s Masonic Lodge, serves on the Mason Township Fire Board, and continues to volunteer for the Edwardsburg Fire Department, on which his son, Bruce, is fire chief and his grandson, Kevin, is a captain.

Julie Stack, who resides with her dad as his caregiver, graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1979 and Western Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in history. She has been an active member of the Edwardsburg Fire Auxiliary since its creation.

Tom and Marje Rea

7 p.m.

Thurs., Sept. 21

Tom and Marje Rea have been Edwardsburg residents since 1959. And they have a lot of stories to tell about their lives in the community.

 He is a retired doctor and she, a retired nurse practitioner. They met when she was a nursing student at Indianapolis General Hospital and he was working there to earn money for medical school. They married and lived in a mobile home park until he finished medical school.

Dr. Rea practiced with Dr. Hansel Foley in Edwardsburg and then had his own medical office built on Gateway Drive in Edwardsburg in 1963. They lived at Eagle Lake where they reared their four children. In 1978, he coaxed Marj away from their home to spend the winter in the 1882-three-story Victorian brick house that needed repairs on Section Street. They purchased the house and, over the years, they did extensive renovations as well as conduct Halloween tours, welcome Christmas carolers, host bridge club meetings, and numerous social gatherings and celebratory parties. They sold the house in 2006 after they moved to a new home in Woodfield Hills at Dailey Road and Pine Lake Street.

Dr. Rea sold his practice to Elkhart General Hospital in 1985 and, after five years, moved to the hospital’s Bristol office. Marj worked first for Cass County Health Department, then became a nationally certified women’s health nurse practitioner, working for the merged Cass-Van Buren Health Department.

Both have been extensively involved with community—with the Miss Edwardsburg Pageant, and the youth group at the former Edwardsburg Methodist Church. Marje Rea served on the Edwardsburg Public Schools Board of Trustees for nearly eight years and has been involved with the Monday Evening Club and the Edwardsburg Book Club.

As a physician, Dr. Rea ‘helped out’ with the Edwardsburg sports teams, sang in the community choir, sang in a barbershop group, and was an associate medical examiner with Dr. Robert Knox for Cass County. He was president of the Edwardsburg Methodist Church Board, and as well as the Cass County Mental Health Foundation. Both he and his wife were instrumental in working with the Barn Swallow Theatre where he was board president for 13 years, and both continue their involvement with that group.

Jack and Sue Rinehart

7 p.m.

Thurs., Oct. 19

Jack Rinehart, who as a former teacher and coach at Edwardsburg Public Schools, is an inductee into the EPS Hall of Fame, will be joined by his wife, Sue, to talk about their work and service to the community when they speak in October.

Well known for their community projects, including the Hope with Feet home repairs program through the Hope United Methodist Church, the Rineharts were reared here. She is a native, the former Susan Higley, and he was born in Mishawaka but grew up in Edwardsburg, He was a 1964 graduate of EHS, where he was a class officer, played football, and was a member of the first Eddies wrestling team. Sue graduated in 1971 and she and Jack met at Southwestern Michigan College after his service in the U.S. Navy.

With a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, he taught at Hanover-Horton High School, then Union City High School. He returned to Edwardsburg in 1985 where he taught lifelong skills to students, and was a coach for varsity wrestling, football, track and middle school level sports. He coached the Eddies to two state runner-up wrestling titles, the first year as an assistant, the second, as head coach. The second year, he was named regional wrestling coach of the year.

He has been actively involved in mission work for Hope Church, serving in the states, as well as in the Caribbean Sea. He and Susan have reared six children and will share stories and recollections of their lives here.

The museum is packing its season this year with several new events, including ‘kiddy’ activities for Memorial Day, the Van Dyke Band performance in July, and a cemetery tour in September. That is in addition to its displays and speaker series (see separate stories) and three annual fundraisers—the plant sale in May and June, Hacienda Day in June, and the U.S. 12 Garage Sale the second full weekend in August.

First up: PLANTS

This season’s perennial plant sale will add new plants and color when it runs from May 19 through June 10. Several reblooming daylilies and multi-colored peonies will be featured this year along with traditional perennials, patio and cemetery pots, and more flowers, including hostas, from the grounds of the Italianate-style Barber house on Section Street. Several community residents again will contribute plants. The museum also thinned out its transfer garden in the fall and will have more than 100 pots of zebra grass and daylilies for sale.  

The sale is open during museum hours and runs over two weekends prior to Memorial Day, and then for an additional 11 days.

CHILDREN’S CARNIVAL

The museum’s new activities committee, headed by Volunteer Judy Wetter, is teaming up with the Edwardsburg Area Chamber of Commerce and the Uptown Improvement Association to offer a children’s carnival for children on the museum grounds from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Memorial Day. This will complement the annual festival at Gunn Park. Activities will include ‘Gone Fishing,’ a Duck Pond, Pick-A-Pop, Velcro Target, and a Bean Bag Toss. There also will be photo opportunities for children and adults. Tickets will be 4 for $1.

HACIENDA DAY FUNDRAISER

This will be the third year for the Hacienda Day fundraiser which will be June 21 at the Mishawaka Hacienda on Grape Road. Participants must produce a coupon (available at the museum) in advance of ordering a meal. The restaurant then donates 20 percent of the proceeds to the museum. Coupons also can be presented that day for gift cards for later use.

THE VAN DYKE BAND PERFORMS

Then, on July 15, a performance by the Van Dyke Band will be featured on the museum’s back deck. The performance is part of the band’s 2023 Nicest Place in America tour. The band’s rhythm guitarist and songwriter, Dave Van Dyke, nominated his hometown of Buchanan for Reader’s Digest’s “Nicest Place in America,” in 2020.  Buchanan won and Van Dyke was featured on national media, including the Today Show. The band was founded in 1999 by Dave and his father, John Van Dyke. Edwardsburg will be the ninth of 16 stops on the tour.

THE U.S. 12 GARAGE SALE

The third and most prolific annual fundraiser, the U.S. 12 garage sale, will be held on museum grounds, from Thurs., Aug. 10 through Sun., Aug. 13. Booth space will be available with details provided on the museum’s Facebook page.

EDWARDSBURG CEMETERY TOUR

The final additional activity will be a tour of the Edwardsburg Cemetery on Sept. 30. Transportation will be provided from the museum. Tickets will be available in advance.

Winter’s iconic snowman, Frosty, is featured in the last display of the 2022 season at the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum. The display, “Frosty and Friends,” which went up Nov. 1, will be exhibited through Dec. 17, when the museum closes to the public until Mid-May.

Exhibit highlights include the museum’s ten-foot Christmas tree, which has been transformed into a snowman, and a wooden ironing board, hand-painted with the little fellow by Edwardsburg Resident Marcia King. Many snowman collections are on loan from museum members and residents.

The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.

The Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum has mounted a special display, “Collectibles, Knick Knacks, Doo Dads, Oh My!,” which is being exhibited through Oct. 29.

From the beautiful to the unusual, it showcases tea cups, old store tins, old medicine bottles, sandicast dogs, small decorative pottery, key chains, small old trucks, pitchers, Boyds Bears nativity, and miniature furniture. Items are on loan from museum members’ personal collections.

The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays. It closes Dec. 17 for the winter months and reopens in mid-May.

Robert Parrish

7 p.m., Thurs., July 21

The vice chairman of the Cass County Department of Parks and Recreation and the driving force behind Dr. Lawless Park’s designation as an International Dark Sky Park and Michigan Dark Sky Reserve, will speak on July 21.

Robert Parrish’s work on the international park designation, only the second in Michigan, is a result of years of diligence and research, and an interest in astronomy from the time he was a child. Parrish’s father, Andrew Parrish, who served in the U.S. Navy, and the Space Race of the 1960s, were the major influences in his interest in the skies.

Parrish is a member of the Michiana Astronomical Society and the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society, as well as a delegate to the International Dark Sky Association.

Parrish received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from Western Michigan University. A graduate of Cassopolis High School, he and his wife, Rita, live in Edwardsburg.

Chris Rosselit

7 p.m., Thurs., Aug. 18

A first-generation farmer and Edwardsburg area native who gradually built a farm leasing business while working full time in transportation will speak on August 18.

Chris Rosselit, a 1973 Edwardsburg High School graduate, who started farming in 1968 and then rented a farm to get started part-time, worked for the Cass County Road Commission and then milked cows at the Harold Tolbert Farm as he contemplated expanding his knowledge in agriculture.

Rosselit spent the majority of his career with the Michigan Department of Transportation, working in maintenance out of the Niles office and farming part-time up until his retirement.

He will discuss the changes in farming equipment and farming practices, including differences between conventional tillage and no-till farming, and the increased costs in agriculture. He also has been interested in environmental practices since the late 1980s, and regularly does soil testing, adding microbes to fertilizer to increase biological life.

Cindy Yawkey

7 p.m., Thurs., Sept. 15

Cindy Yawkey grew up in Vandalia and volunteers for the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County. As co-chair of the James E. and Sarah Bogue House at Penn Road and M-60, she leads tours of the Bonine House and the Bonine Carriage House. She is acquainted with many descendants of pioneer Black families that settled in the area, particularly in Calvin Township. 

Yawkey’s presentation will be on the 1847 Kentucky Slave Raid in Cass County.

An award-winning author, artist and illustrator recognized by the Michigan Historical Society, National Parks Service, and Michigan Humanities Council, Yawkey is the author of “They Have My Shoes, I have My Freedom,” and “Out of Bondage—Perry Sanford’s Account.” Her booklet on the Kentucky Raid is described as a “faithful rendition of this infamous incident.”

Steve Arseneau

7 p.m., Thurs., Oct. 20

The Orphan Train will be the subject of a power point presentation by Steve Arseneau, director of the Dowagiac Area History Museum.

Homeless, orphaned children were sent to Dowagiac in 1853 on what became known as the Orphan Train. Dowagiac’s local museum has made this project a focal point in its work and displays. Over 75 years, more than 250,000 children eventually were sent from New York to the Western United States for adoption by families, and Arseneau will discuss the history first orphan train and the legacy of the movement.

With both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Wisconsin, Arseneau joined the Southwestern Michigan College Museum in 1998, and later became its director. When the museum was moved to Dowagiac in 2012, he was in charge of the transition, helping to design the museum building, and implementing the move, including the design, planning, and installation of exhibits. His extensive skills list includes not only general administration, but also community outreach, fundraising, events planning, and writing.

When Dr. Thomas Rea and his wife, Marj, lived on Section Street in the stately white house they adorned with expansive gardens, they planted many, many hostas that they purchased from the Indianapolis Hosta Society. Over the years, they divided the plants, added more, and shared them with members of the community.

Many years after the Reas moved from the home, it was sold along with the acreage in 2021 to the Edwardsburg Public Schools. And thanks to the generosity school officials, the museum was granted permission to dig many of the hostas for sale at its 2022 plant sale, which runs from May 20 through June 11.

Many of these hostas are stately and have been planted in large, decorative container pots that the museum acquired a few years ago from the estate of the late Teresa Kraus, a longtime Edwardsburg florist. Along with the hostas are several other plants from the Section Street house, including plumerias and lilies. Also donating hostas and other plants are Greg and Michelle Black, and Kevin and Rose Kelsheimer. Additionally, the museum will carry a wide variety of perennial plants, as well as containers of annuals suitable for patios, porches, or grave placements over Memorial Day.

The plant sale will be manned during the week prior to Memorial Day as well as throughout Memorial Day weekend and beyond.

Did you know that Whoopie Pie is Michigan’s Snack, that some people consider Doo Dads as collectibles, or that Frosty the Snowman has friends?
Those themes will make up the season displays for 2022 at the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum.
The “Celebrating Michigan” display will be front and center from May 17, the opening day, until Aug. 5.
Pieced together almost entirely by Retired Edwardsburg Teacher Ed Gardner, it will feature five categories that focus on Michigan’s wonderland, including history, recreation, products, famous people, and the beauty of the land.
On Aug. 9, the second display, “Collectibles, Knick Knacks, Doo Dads, Oh My!” will be featured throughout the museum with items from the museum’s collection and loaned items from community residents. That exhibit will run until Oct. 29.
“Frosty and Friends” will go up on Nov. 1, to celebrate the winter season, and, again, will include loaned items from residents, and objects from the museum’s collection.
The museum closes Dec. 17 for the winter.

The Santas have arrived at the Edwardsburg Area Museum and will be displayed until the museum closes for the 2021 season on Dec. 17.

Several residents and museum members have loaned Santas from their collections, along with other Santa-like characters such as St. Nicholas and, of course, Mrs. Claus. Items from the museum’s collection also are being exhibited along with the massive decorated tree in the main gallery.

Museum hours are 1 to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The museum will be closed for Thanksgiving.

Two speakers will complete the 2021 season at the Edwardsburg Area Museum as a complement to the current ‘Hooked on Fishing’ display. The display opened on Aug. 29 and runs through Oct. 31.

Thurs., Sept. 16, 7 p.m.—Darrin Schaap

Darrin Schaap’s presentation, scheduled for 2020, also has been moved to the 2021 season. Schaap, the owner of Clear H2o Tackle in Edwardsburg, is a columnist for the Edwardsburg Voice. He will focus on changing technology in the world of fishing, as well as how to use different lures for different fish.

He graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1995 and earned his business administration degree from Central Michigan University. He managed Brett’s Place on the Bay in Benton Harbor for five years.

His is the first of two presentations that complement the seasonal display, Hooked on Fishing, which opens Aug. 18.

Thurs., Oct. 21, 7 p.m.—Jeff Duck

Jeff Duck has the fisherman’s dream job. The Edwardsburg native, a professional fishing guide out of Port Alsworth, Alaska for nearly 20 years, will share highlights of that work as part of the Hooked on Fishing display. He will speak on the similarities between fishing in Michigan and Alaska and share photos of his experiences.

No amateur before the camera, Duck was a part of a documentary by the Discovery Channel, has appeared in an episode of River Monsters, and can be seen in professional videos on fishing for northern pike and rainbow trout. He heads tours for individuals as well as professional photographers in day trips in the Bristol Bay Region, an area covering thousands of miles south of Anchorage. While his focus is on five species of salmon, northern pike, rainbow and lake trout, steelhead and the graying, he also conducts tours of glaciers and volcanoes.

Because of the precautions she is taking regarding the pandemic, Elizabeth Westfall Thompson will not be speaking at the museum on Thurs., Aug. 19. The museum board members regret that she will be unable to present the story of her life, but appreciate the concern that she has for her own health and all of those around her.