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.

A retired home economics teacher turned food service director, a fish and tackle business owner in Edwardsburg, and a another Edwardsburg native who is a fishing guide in Alaska, will provide evening presentations this season at the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum.

Thurs., Aug. 19, 7 p.m.—Elizabeth Westfall Thompson

Because of the pandemic, this presentation by Elizabeth Westfall Thompson was moved to the 2021 season. A 1956 Edwardsburg High School graduate and an Edwardsburg Hall of Fame inductee, Thompson will give an oral history of growing up in Edwardsburg. She and her husband, Larry, who died in 2018, jointly received the Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Award from the Edwardsburg Public Schools in 2016.

Thompson put her degree in home economics to good use and taught for 35 years, both at Sand Creek high School and the Allegan County Area Vocational Technical Center. A dietitian, she also ran a catering business and worked as a food service director. She earned several state awards for her work in the Future Homemakers of the America and the vocational Industrial Clubs of America. She lives in Saugatuck.

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.

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.

Photos from the State of Michigan, a fishing display held over from 2020, and Santa Claus collections from community residents will be the exhibitions mounted by the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum this season.

Michigan Week is in mid-May and the exhibit, “Images of Michigan” will feature photographs both in color and black and white from more than two dozen residents and former residents of Edwardsburg. Students from the Edwardsburg High School art class also have been asked to participate. The exhibit will run from May 18 to Aug. 14.  A variety of photographs that capture wildlife, places, nature, sports, activities and people will be on display.

The exhibit, “Hooked on Fishing,” will run from Aug.18 to Oct. 31. It will include many items from the museum’s permanent collection as well as lures, rods, augers, and old fishing equipment from area residents. This is exhibit was held over from the 2020 season because the pandemic.

“Santas Are in the House” will be the Christmas display this year and will open on Nov. 3.  Area residents will be called upon to loan their own Santas from the United States as well as Santa ornaments and Santa-like characters such as St. Nicholas from other countries. Items from the museum’s collection along with Santa books also will be showcased.

The museum will close on Dec. 17 and re-open in May 2022.

Christmas traditions around the world are the focus of this year’s Christmas display at the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum. The exhibit opens Tues., Nov. 10, 2020.

From ornaments to lace, from nesting dolls to crystal, from angels to sweaters, and from clocks and teddy bears to china, cow bells, and silk scarves, a display of items from at least 17 countries, including the United States, will grace the museum galleries. Included will be the museum’s centerpiece, a majestic lighted tree in the main gallery.

Organized, collected, and developed by Judy Montgomery, Laura Jamrog, and Museum Chairperson Sally Dalrymple, ornaments alone will be featured from the Czech Republic, Portugal, Mexico, St. Martens, Aruba, Poland and the United States. Bears are from Harrods of London, including a tiny Beanie Baby bear. A Waterford Crystal Angel and a Belleek Angel will be featured from Ireland, along with an angel from Nuremburg, lace from Rothenberg and china from Hungary and Japan. Objects from Russia include nesting dolls and a pecking toy.

The exhibits will include descriptive pieces of Christmas traditions in the individual countries. Community residents have loaned items for the display.

The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. It will close for the season on December  13 and re-open in mid-May, 2021.

The 2020 Season of the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum is being altered as a result of the coronavirus. The “Hooked on Fishing” Display which was scheduled to run Aug. 29 through Oct. 29 is being cancelled for this year and the current display which commemorates the 100^th anniversary of women’s right to vote will remain in place through October. It will be followed by the last display of the season, “Christmas Around the World.”

The presentations scheduled for August and September also have been cancelled. Elizabeth Westfall Thompson, an inductee of the Edwardsburg Hall of Fame, was scheduled to give an oral history on Thurs., Aug., 20, and Darrin Schaap, owner of Clear H2o Tackle in Edwardsburg, was to speak Thurs., Sept. 3, as part of the exhibition on fishing. Hopefully, those can be re-scheduled for a future season.

Because of seating restrictions related to the coronavirus, the presentation by Suzanne Flandreau at the museum on Thursday evening, July 16, 2020, will not be open to the public. However, the presentation will be videotaped, edited, and posted to the museum’s YouTube channel, the website, and here on the Facebook page. Flandreau will speak on “Women’s Clubs in the 20th Century,” which dovetails with the museum’s current display, “Women Vote and Serve Community.” Both commemorate the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the United States. Flandreau is a retired archivist who serves on the boards of the Friends of the Niles District Library and the Niles History Center. Her research was done in connection with three presentations she has made in Niles within the last year. Source material was acquired from the Niles District Library and the Niles History Center.

The museum is accepting rental space applications for the US 12 Garage sale, which is the second weekend in August. Booth spaces are $15 for one day, $20 for two days, and $25 for all three days, and are 10′ by 10′ in size. Applications are available at the museum during open hours, which are Tuesdays through Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Chris Kloswick at 269-699-7385 for more information,