Carnegie Museum to host Business After Hours July 21

FAIRFIELD — The Carnegie Historical Museum in Fairfield will host a Business After Hours from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, July 21.

The event is being put on by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce, and is open to the public. It will feature a free meal for the first 400 people who attend, courtesy of the Jefferson County Pork Producers. Fishback & Stephenson Cider House will provide free hard cider, and for the entertainment, the museum plans to host a scavenger hunt.

Jake Schmidt, a member of the Carnegie Museum Board, said all of the new and remodeled exhibits the museum has produced in the last two years has led to great attendance figures.

“We’re averaging over 300 visitors per month,” Schmidt said. “It’s been awesome. Some of that has been from class reunions, and some are people who haven’t been here for decades. It’s really exciting.”

Schmidt said one of the museum’s latest exhibits, on the county’s heritage farms, has attracted a lot of interest.

Gloria Countryman, president of the Carnegie Museum Foundation, said she hopes the open house gives the public a glimpse of why the museum is important, and why it needs to be maintained. The foundation is in the midst of a fundraising campaign for the building, with the top priority being renovating its southwest corner.

“It has settled on that corner, and so the outside wall has cracked from top to bottom,” Countryman said. “We have to stabilize it, because if not, it will be a worse problem down the road.”

Other improvements the foundation is planning include tuck pointing, new windows, securing loose parapets, and brick repair and cleaning.

The foundation’s fundraising goal for these projects is $1 million.

In a mailer the foundation is sending out, the foundation is asking residents to contribute toward maintaining a piece of Fairfield’s history.

“If you remember the buffalo head at the top of the stairs or the intricate Native American bead work, or felt a connection to Lincoln while viewing his funeral badge, we need you,” states the letter from the foundation. “The Fairfield Carnegie Museum is one of those rare places that does so much for our community. We hope that you will consider giving back in the form of a financial donation to our museum so that we can continue serving the Fairfield community for years to come.”

The Carnegie Historical Museum has two boards. One of them, the Carnegie Museum Board, is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the museum. The other, the Carnegie Museum Foundation of Jefferson County, Iowa, is a nonprofit agency that writes grants and collects money for capital projects at the museum.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com