It is a special way to remember a loved one for the holidays, whether a family member, friend, or special pet. 

This year, a remembrance tree will grace the porch of the museum’s main gallery, and the public is invited to purchase a personalized ornament for the tree. The ornament is a 2 1/2-inch clear acrylic circle. The top will read “Remembering” and the bottom, “This Christmas.” A small suction cup comes with the tree for hanging at home.

Each ornament is $5 and order forms are available until Nov. 18 at the museum during open hours, which are 1 to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays, until Dec. 14.

The ornaments are available for pickup after the Christmas tree lighting at the museum on Dec. 5, through Dec. 14, when the museum closes until May 2025. There is no limit on the number of ornaments purchased.

For questions, call Judy at 941-524-1271.

Tickets are on sale for the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum Cemetery Walking Tour, to be held on Sept. 28, 2024. This year the actors will portray Dr. John Sweetland, Publisher George Andrus, Business Owner Mary Catherine Morse, Librarian Lois Keller, Educator and Museum Founder JoAnn Boepple, and Educator Robert Mette. The tour begins and ends at the museum with a short wagon ride to the Edwardsburg Cemetery. Tours are scheduled for noon, 1:15 pm, 2:30 pm and 3:45 pm. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at the museum 1-4 p.m., Tuesday thru Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Notice…..The noon tour is sold out! 

Life in America’s small towns conjures up baseball games and other team sports, board games, jacks and marbles, apple pie, bubble gum, bobbers, hot dogs, denim, t-shirts, and bicycles. There will be no shortage of those items and many others when the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum’s first exhibit of 2024, Small Town Americana, debuts on May 14.

Drawing upon both the museum’s inventory and items loaned by museum members, the spirited display, which celebrates small-town life, will run through July 13.

It will be followed by two other exhibits, Edwardsburg 1900-1920, which opens July 16 and closes on Halloween (Oct.31), and Christmas in Toyland, from Nov. 5 through Dec. 14.

The last two are still in the early planning stages, but display chairs Laura Jamrog and Judy Montgomery will pull items from the museum inventory for Edwardsburg 1900-1920. That exhibit will showcase the collection of Edwardsburg photos taken by George Andrus of The Edwardsburg Argus in the first two decades of the 20^th Century. George and Charles Andrus, along with their grandfather, Henry Andrus owned the Argus. The collection of about 350 photographs, was donated in four large binders by Charles Andrus’ son, Dean, soon after the museum was founded. They are images of people, buildings, streets, animals, and businesses, mostly in the Village of Edwardsburg. They will be complemented by various documents and items such as sheet music, and utensils, as well as mannequins outfitted in popular clothing styles from those decades.

The last exhibit, Christmas in Toyland, will be a colorful exhibit that will be, as Jamrog said, “all about being a kid again.” All Christmas trees will be decorated, with toys everywhere throughout the museum rooms.

The museum will close on Dec. 14, and re-open in mid-May, 2025.

MARK DUSSEL

7 p.m., June 20

Farmer. Grocer. Landscaper. Mark Dussel of Cassopolis wears all three hats and he will speak at the museum on general gardening and floral landscaping practices on June 20.

Most of what he knows stems from hands-on experiences contact and with the grower network he has developed over the years.

Dussel grew up in Penn Township on the 250-acre family hog farm on Quaker Street, which he still farms along with his own 140 acres on Dutch Settlement Street and additional leased crop land.

A 1985 graduate of Ross Beatty High School, Cassopolis, he started farming as a young boy. After graduation, he worked in a van conversion factory until he was 21, then married and began farming full-time. In 1997, he purchased the market and greenhouses in Cassopolis that today bear his name and in which he sells his own beef and several produce items he grows. He employs five farm and greenhouse workers, although the number can swell to 20 during the summer months.  His landscaper, Gloria Chavez of Decatur, has been with him for 30 years and oversees the greenhouse operations.

Dussel is a supporter of the museum’s perennial plant sale. His wife, Kristy, the company bookkeeper, is a teacher at Horizon Elementary School in Granger. The couple has three sons and two young granddaughters.

STARLA DEMOSS

7 p.m., Aug. 22

She has been an adventurer in search of experiences for many years.

And Starla DeMoss, a recent transplant to Edwardsburg, will talk about the many aspects of Dutch oven cooking and its place in American history-particularly pioneers–when she speaks on Aug. 22

A native of Casper, Wyoming, DeMoss grew up in Cheyenne, and initially left there after high school in 1973. She met her first husband in high school and they had four children. He was in the United States Air Force and they lived in Arizona. After the marriage ended, she returned to Cheyenne where she married Ed DeMoss, who also was in the U.S. Air Force. After he left the military, they moved to Pender, Nebraska, where Ed was a refrigeration supervisor for Tyson Foods. They remodeled a house and Starla became a seasoned gardener and mastered food preservation practices. She later returned to school to become a licensed practical nurse (LPN), and worked in the medical field for several years. After her husband died in 2017, she traveled extensively to visit her children.  She moved to Edwardsburg in 2022 to continue to be near her daughter and family, who relocated from San Diego, California, to Elkhart.

But in the 1990s, DeMoss attended Being an Outdoors Woman (BOW) camps, where she studied a variety of subjects, including canoeing, archery, native plants, and Dutch oven cooking. She cooks with several stackable cast iron pots over fires of hot coals, and has several recipes that she will share during her presentation. (but no, she will not cook over hot coals in the museum).

NANCY CLASE AND JOE PIANE

7 p.m., Sept. 19

World travelers Nancy Clase and her husband, Joe Piane, will share their adventures during a presentation on Sept. 19.

Clase, a 2021-2022 inductee into the Edwardsburg Public Schools Hall of Fame, taught French at the high school for 46. She was hired in 1972 after graduating from the University of Evansville (IN), studying abroad, and having been an Au Pair with a French family.

Over the years, Clase led 22 groups of Edwardsburg students, parents and community members on trips to France and other European countries. In 2005, she was named Michigan World Language Teacher of the Year. Her husband, Bob, also an Edwardsburg teacher and coach, whom she married in 1975, died in 2008.

Joe Piane is retired from the University of Notre Dame, where he was the cross-country and track and field coach. A four-year letter winner in sports at Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, he was inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame in 2003.

Piane went to Notre Dame in 1975 as an assistant track coast and instructor in 1975, and became head coach in 1976. His teams won 26 conference championships and he was the recipient of numerous Coach of the Year awards, including at least six Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year honors. After retirement, he volunteered his coaching expertise with the Edwardsburg High School track and cross-country teams. Through the years, he traveled extensively with his wife, Mimi, who tragically died in an accident in 2016. Piane met Clase in 2017 and they married in 2020. As transcontinental travelers, the two have many stories to tell.

Gary Sanders

7 p.m., Oct. 17

Edwardsburg Native Gary Sanders will speak about his life in Edwardsburg at his Oct. 17 presentation. Born on Leet Road, Sanders graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1959. He worked in the tool and die trade until his mid-30s, then started and operated the Trading Post with Scott Quimby of Edwardsburg for 10 years. He was a dealer’s representative for several years, then became a licensed real estate agent. He has been with Cressy and Everett Real Estate for 23 years.

Sanders and Carla Jones of Edwardsburg were married in 1963, and have a son, Tim, who is a retired carpenter and lives in Lansing. The couple has two grandchildren who live in Lexington, KY, and Edinburgh, IN, respectively.

A plethora of events will populate the 2024 museum season with three fundraisers, a kids’ carnival, a band concert, another tour of the Edwardsburg Cemetery, and the annual Christmas tree lighting.

Plants, Plants, and More Plants

On May 17, the first of three fundraising events begins when the perennial plant sale gets underway. Dussel’s Market and Greenhouses of Cassopolis is a supporter of the event and this year’s floral offerings will include a much wider selection. From ground covers to designer lilies and peonies, butterfly bushes, and miniature hydrangeas, various prices and colors will be offered. The sale will include not only clematis vines but also peony trees. A selection of annuals, featuring hanging baskets, and patio and cemetery pots again will complement the sale.

Several large plants will be available, including the popular gallon size, as well as ‘fresh starts’ of hens and chicks. Prices will start at $1.

Kiddies Needed for the Carnival

On Memorial Day, May 27, the activities committee again will staff a kids’ carnival in the museum’s backyard. Games will include Go Fishing, Duck Pond, Pick-A-Pop, Velcro Target, and a Bean Bag Toss. The carnival is for all ages and tickets will be 5 for $1. The event begins immediately following the parade and concludes at 2 p.m.

The Hacienda Beckons

The museum will hold its annual Hacienda Fundraiser on June 19 at the Mishawaka location on Grape Road. Participants must produce a coupon, available at the museum or from members, before 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 Historical Society Visits

The Cass County Historical Society will hold its meeting at the museum at 6:30 p.m., on July 16. It is open to the public.

Chill Once Again to Music in the Museum Backyard

For the second consecutive year, the VanDyke Revue Band will play. The performance will be at 7 p.m., Sat., July 27, on the museum’s back deck. There is no admission charge and music lovers can enjoy the show from their lawn chairs or on blankets they spread on the ground. The band is from Buchanan and was founded in 1999 by Dave VanDyke and his father, John. Sensational Scoops of Edwardsburg again will sell ice cream during the evening.

Remember the U.S. 12 Garage Sale!

The second full weekend in August is always the U.S. 12 Garage Sale and this has been the museum’s largest of its three fundraising events. The sale takes up all of the side yard and at least half of the backyard of the museum property, and planning takes nearly all year. It runs this year from Fri., August 9^th through Sun, Aug.  12^th, but the museum always opens a day early, which, this year, is Thurs., Aug. 8.

The sale is fully staffed by volunteers with hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. on Sunday.

See the Schoolroom After the All-School Reunion

The museum is always open immediately after the Edwardsburg Public Schools All-School Reunion, the third Sunday in August. This year, it falls on Aug. 18. The museum building opens at 3:30 p.m. for those who want to reminisce about school years, look at yearbooks, and see newly-mounted displays.

Calling All Cemetery Tour Enthusiasts

The tour of the Edwardsburg Village Cemetery was so popular in 2023 that the activities committee has another one scheduled for Sept. 28. It again will be a walking tour and there will be a golf cart on site for participants to ride if needed. Transportation will be provided from the museum. Times are to be determined. A morning tour may be added since last year’s tour was sold out. There will again be re-enactments of historical figures buried in the cemetery, but those are yet to be selected. Tickets are $5 each.

Let’s Light the Christmas Tree

The annual Christmas Tree Lighting will be at 5:30 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 5, in the museum side yard. It is sponsored by the Uptown Improvement Association (UIA) in concert with the museum. The museum will be open and activities are in the planning stages.

“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.