Kalona Mayor declares July 8-12 museum week

By Gretchen Teske, GTNS News

KALONA - In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Kalona Historical Society, Kalona Mayor Ken Herington signed a proclamation at the city council meeting Monday night, declaring July 8-12 as Kalona Museum Week.

Nancy Roth, Managing Director of the Kalona Historical Village, said staff found documentation from 1969 that the society held a museum week as a fundraiser.

'They had the mayor back then designate a specific week,” she said. 'We're trying to duplicate that, granted we have different events and activities than what they did 50 years ago.”

The events will begin Monday, July 8, with a family day at the Kalona Historical Village. From 2-6:30 p.m., free admission will be granted and games popular in 1969, such as double-Dutch, hopscotch and four square.

'I think it will be interesting for most kids in today's age because they've probably never done those,” she said with a laugh.

Tractors from the ag building will be on display, and homemade ice cream and brick-oven pizza will be available for purchase. Roth said she feels this will be a great time for people to come out and explore a part of Kalona they may have never seen.

'I think there's a lot of families in town that may have lived here a long time that have never taken the opportunity to explore down here,” she said. 'So I think it's a good opportunity to take a look at things.”

On Tuesday, July 9, a scavenger hunt will take place. Individuals will be given clues about business locations 50 years ago and will need to decipher them to determine what business is in that location now. Wednesday evening, music from local artists and a bake sale will take place at the Kalona Historical Village and a presentation on the history of tent revivals will be given by Perry Miller.

On Thursday, the visitor's center will be overtaken by quilters for a 'quilt-in.” Quilters, church groups and people who just want to learn to quilt are encouraged to come out and bring their projects to work on. Friday's events will take place at the Kalona Golf Course where they will have a golf benefit and a dinner to follow at 6 p.m. All proceeds will go toward the Kalona Historical Museum and the Kalona Mennonite Museum.

While most activities are free, a free-will donation will be accepted. All proceeds will be split between the Kalona Mennonite Historical Society and the Kalona Historical Society.

'We're hoping that a lot of history will be learned next week and to let people know the historical village does have a lot of different things going on all the time and let people get caught up in all of that,” she said.