Museum
News Items:
The Annual Meeting of the Bear Lake Area Historical Society was held on Tuesday evening, October 12, 2021. The slate of Corporate officers who will continue their duties on January 1, 2023, are as follows: President, Joyce Valentine; Vice-President/Secretary, Katherine Schafer; and, Treasurer, Thomas Mallison.
A new Director was elected at the Annual Meeting! Melissa Jager will be joining us and is excited about becoming a working member of the Society! She has been involved with the Museum the past couple years and helped us with many different tasks. She has a natural love of history and has been studing genealogy since she was a young woman. So Melissa is a 'natural' person committed to researching the past. Welcome Melissa!
We will be very busy over the winter months working on creating new display pods for our growing collection and adding new bricks to the Memory Garden. We also hope to have two more flower boxes so that we can have them at the main entrance as well as in the Garden. In 2021 the Bear Lake Triginta Club placed a bench honoring Jan Morency who had passed away the previous year. Jan's family was present for the Memory Garden Ceremony which was attended by many local friends and members of the Triginta Club. The plantings around the base of the handicap ramp have matured and really soften the look of the Garden. More attention will be given the planting area this summer.
Our Past:
The Bear Lake Area Historical Society was formed in December 2013 by an energetic forward looking group of individuals who wanted to preserve and share the unique history of the Bear Lake area. It was important that it should include the history of Bear Lake Township, Pleasanton Township, and the Village of Bear Lake.
The group set its sights on the empty Baptist Church and was successful in acquiring a lease for the sanctuary portion of the church for a museum. This hundred year old was the perfect spot for a museum—close to downtown and US 31—on the corner of Virginia and Main Streets and directly across from the Bear Lake Post Office! However, the building needed many upgrades in order to make it ADA compliant. Fundraising began and through memberships, memorials, grants, and gifts the Bear Lake Area Historical Museum was able to open its doors to the public in August 2016. The necessary renovations totaled over $40,000 which nearly depleted our treasury! Your contributions helped us accomplish our goal--now our eyes are focused on the future or the Museum and keeping it alive, fresh, and financially healthy!
The Year 2021:
Visitors to the Museum were, once again, pleased with all of the new historical acquisitions on display. Each week more and more individuals and families came forward with artifacts to add to the collection. The Board is placing its focus this fall and winter on keeping the displays fresh, adding additional displays, paying our bills, and making minor improvements. We need your help in order to accomplish this.
As the holdings of the Bear Lake Museum continue to grow it has become an exciting challenge to put together displays which are meaningful to our visitors and credit the many families who have so graciously bestowed artifacts. The Museum continues to grow with each passing year.
Looking Forward 2022:
The lower level flooding disaster of 2020 is now behind us. All new insulation, walls, cabinets, sink, hot water heater, and many other things are now completely finished! So, as the saying goes, "you CAN make lemonade out of lemons!" The Directors have decided to expand our floor space to include the lower level. Some displays from the main floor level have been moved to the lower level making way for some new spaces on each floor. We are still in the process of making that happen, but, rest assured, somehow it will be accomplished by opening day on May 28,2022. We hope to see you stop by!!
The Annual Meeting of the Bear Lake Area Historical Society was held on Tuesday evening, October 12, 2021. The slate of Corporate officers who will continue their duties on January 1, 2023, are as follows: President, Joyce Valentine; Vice-President/Secretary, Katherine Schafer; and, Treasurer, Thomas Mallison.
A new Director was elected at the Annual Meeting! Melissa Jager will be joining us and is excited about becoming a working member of the Society! She has been involved with the Museum the past couple years and helped us with many different tasks. She has a natural love of history and has been studing genealogy since she was a young woman. So Melissa is a 'natural' person committed to researching the past. Welcome Melissa!
We will be very busy over the winter months working on creating new display pods for our growing collection and adding new bricks to the Memory Garden. We also hope to have two more flower boxes so that we can have them at the main entrance as well as in the Garden. In 2021 the Bear Lake Triginta Club placed a bench honoring Jan Morency who had passed away the previous year. Jan's family was present for the Memory Garden Ceremony which was attended by many local friends and members of the Triginta Club. The plantings around the base of the handicap ramp have matured and really soften the look of the Garden. More attention will be given the planting area this summer.
Our Past:
The Bear Lake Area Historical Society was formed in December 2013 by an energetic forward looking group of individuals who wanted to preserve and share the unique history of the Bear Lake area. It was important that it should include the history of Bear Lake Township, Pleasanton Township, and the Village of Bear Lake.
The group set its sights on the empty Baptist Church and was successful in acquiring a lease for the sanctuary portion of the church for a museum. This hundred year old was the perfect spot for a museum—close to downtown and US 31—on the corner of Virginia and Main Streets and directly across from the Bear Lake Post Office! However, the building needed many upgrades in order to make it ADA compliant. Fundraising began and through memberships, memorials, grants, and gifts the Bear Lake Area Historical Museum was able to open its doors to the public in August 2016. The necessary renovations totaled over $40,000 which nearly depleted our treasury! Your contributions helped us accomplish our goal--now our eyes are focused on the future or the Museum and keeping it alive, fresh, and financially healthy!
The Year 2021:
Visitors to the Museum were, once again, pleased with all of the new historical acquisitions on display. Each week more and more individuals and families came forward with artifacts to add to the collection. The Board is placing its focus this fall and winter on keeping the displays fresh, adding additional displays, paying our bills, and making minor improvements. We need your help in order to accomplish this.
As the holdings of the Bear Lake Museum continue to grow it has become an exciting challenge to put together displays which are meaningful to our visitors and credit the many families who have so graciously bestowed artifacts. The Museum continues to grow with each passing year.
Looking Forward 2022:
The lower level flooding disaster of 2020 is now behind us. All new insulation, walls, cabinets, sink, hot water heater, and many other things are now completely finished! So, as the saying goes, "you CAN make lemonade out of lemons!" The Directors have decided to expand our floor space to include the lower level. Some displays from the main floor level have been moved to the lower level making way for some new spaces on each floor. We are still in the process of making that happen, but, rest assured, somehow it will be accomplished by opening day on May 28,2022. We hope to see you stop by!!