Can you believe that it has already been 11 years since we opened the doors on the new museum? Read all about opening day and the move from the church to the new building as documented in our Fall 2010 newsletter. We bet you’ll recognize many of these names.
The new museum and gift shop officially opened on June 26, 2010. Our hours of operation were from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. And we were, once again, able to run by an all-volunteer staff. Volunteers were recruited by Fran Minshall and worked the entire summer. The volunteers included: Pat Seeholzer, Leslie Korenko, Ed Frindt, Charlotte Halliwill, Knut Lahrs, Mary Ann Pileski, Carol Dodson, Shirley Crabill, Elsie Homegardner, Anne Eddowes, Fran Minshall, and Sharon Mclntire; along with substitute Lori Arnold.
A huge thank you goes to all of these dedicated volunteers who made it possible for us to be open for the hundreds of interested islanders and island visitors to see our beautiful new museum, while learning about Kelleys Island's rich history. Please consider helping us out next year for three hours once a week to allow the public to view our museum. We can only be open if we have volunteers.
The
very first visitor to the new museum was member Ted Blatt.
This marks a true milestone for KIHA. With no paid workers, except for the construction crew, the association has gathered all the monies, built the new museum, arranged it, filled it, opened a new gift shop and made tremendous progress toward restoring the Old Stone Church.
The KIHA Board voted to pay for professional painters to scrape, paint and caulk all the outside windows and church doors. In addition, seven of the church's chairs were professionally refurbished. Landscaping mulch was paid for in the front of the new museum and leveling and planting of grass seed was completed behind the new building. Blacktopping of the parking lot was completed in September.
Throughout the years dozens have worked and donated many hours, time and money. Thanks to all of them, all who helped out with the Church renewal and thanks to all of our volunteers! There is still work to be done inside the Church, and in the museum gift shop next summer, so please consider volunteering and becoming a part of Kelleys Island history!
The
museum today
OLD STONE CHURCH RESTORED - Once the move was complete, work began on restoring the church.
On Aug. 6th and 8th Ed Frindt
gathered a number of island volunteers to clean and put the Old Stone Church
back to its original state, after dutifully serving as the museum for the
Kelleys Island Historical Association for over 25 years. After completing the
new museum and gift shop, it was time to bring the lovingly stored pews, piano
and other church artifacts back into their home.
On Aug. 6th the church was
cleaned until it shined. Everything was vacuumed and the floors and benches
were washed with Murphy's Oil Soap. It looks—and smells— wonderful. The workers
that day were: Ed Frindt, Chuck Hacker, Fred Walcott, Roger Williams, and Frank
Yako
On Aug. 8th the following volunteers moved the furniture back into the Church, cleaning it as it arrived. That date's helpers were: Tim Richardson, Josh Cross, Jon Lundwall, and his baby daughter Abigail, who are all from Camp Patmos. They worked alongside: Carol and Ed Frindt, Gary Kowell, Sharon and Jim Mclntire, Scott Stevenson (brought his flatbed) Elsie and George Homegardner, Pat Hayes (supervised moving the piano, which had been in the Kelley House), and Teri Betzenheimer. Another Flatbed Trailer was lent by Jean and John Kuyoth. Mike Feyedelem supplied the vacuum.
These
people restored the church after the big move to the new building.
Our museum and resale shop continues to be staffed with dedicated Volunteers
This marks a true milestone for KIHA. With no paid workers, except for the construction crew, the association has gathered all the monies, built the new museum, arranged it, filled it, opened a new gift shop and made tremendous progress toward restoring the Old Stone Church.
The KIHA Board voted to pay
for professional painters to scrape, paint and caulk all the outside windows
and church doors. In addition, seven of the church's chairs were professionally
refurbished. Landscaping mulch was paid for in the front of the new museum and
leveling and planting of grass seed was completed behind the new building.
Blacktopping of the parking lot was completed in September.
Throughout the years dozens
have worked and donated many hours, time and money. Thanks to all of them, all
who helped out with the Church renewal and thanks to all of our volunteers!
There is still work to be done inside the Church, and in the museum gift shop
next summer, so please consider volunteering and becoming a part of Kelleys
Island history!
This holds true today - we are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers.
We have a tour of the museum
on our website – just click on Tours/Videos
Thanks to Leslie Korenko for this Blog post.
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