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NEWSLETTER
Winter 2011
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300 Coloma Ave. Phone: (269) 468-3330 P.O. Box 207 Fax: (269) 468-4083 Coloma, MI 49038 www.NorthBerrienHistory.org info@NorthBerrienHistory.org Connect with NBHS Online!
Become a fan on Facebook Curators Blog: NorthBerrienHistory.blogspot.com Twitter: Twitter.com/NBerrienHistory
Staff
Director / Curator Director of Education Office Manager
The mission of the North Berrien Historical Society is to preserve and distribute information regarding the history of North Berrien County. We wish to promote, encourage learning, and disseminate knowledge of the areas cultural and architectural legacy.
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All events are at the North Berrien Historical Museum unless otherwise noted.
Holiday Lights & Music Fundraising Gala. Enjoy seasonal treats and preview our 25 decorated trees in full brilliance at night. Hear live holiday music on a variety of instruments. Tickets are available at the museum for $12 in advance, or $15 at the door. North Berrien Holiday Open House. Free Admission, Santas Workshop, Gingerbread House decorating, Santa & Mrs. Claus, Cookie Walk, Favorite Tree Contest and more! See flyer for details.
December 2-4
Youth Internship Informational Meeting. Students in grades 7-12 and parents Monday, interested in our 2012 Youth Internship program are encouraged to join us for a brief December 19, 6pm informational meeting. Call the museum for more information on this program. Free. Thursday, December 29, 1-2:30pm Winter Time Travelers: Let it Snow! Experience winters of the past with fun, hands-on activities. Designed for ages 6-12; Family welcome. Only in case of a weather emergency, this will be held Dec. 30, 1-2:30pm. Free. Ice Age Imperials. A new exhibit at the Heritage Center in Saint Joseph takes you back to the prehistoric era when mammoths, giant beavers, and sabertooth cats lived among Paleo-Indians. Director Christina Hirn Arseneau and Upton Fellow Caitlyn Dial will discuss the Ice Age Imperials exhibit and programs. Free. Victorian Valentines Party. Bring the family for festive refreshments, games, and crafts. Be inspired by our collection of historic valentines, and create your own valentines to take home. Suggested Donation $3/person. The Great Millburg Bank Robbery, presentation by NBHS Executive Director Alex Gates. Travel back to 1925 and experience one of southwest Michigans most sensational crimes. Free. until the hour of their capture they did not hesitate to shoot at any or all persons who attempted to stop them. We do not hesitate in removing any person who has become a source of danger to peaceful citizens. While the stolen bonds were recovered from the Drollinger farm, the majority of the cash remained unaccounted for. The mystery of the missing money was solved in 1929 when James Kane was arrested and convicted as the sixth Millburg State Bank robber who had escaped during the chase. Kane was also sentenced to life in prison. Join us on Tuesday, February 21 as Executive Director Alex Gates presents an in-depth look at this infamous crime. By Alexander Gates Information and Images Courtesy of Will Nichols
became so worried about the five gangsters having powerful criminal allies, he purchased Berrien Countys first machine gun to guard the inmates. The trial was moved to Kalamazoo in exchange for trying all five men together. At 5am on May 11 the defendants were shackled together in heavy steel cuffs and transferred to Kalamazoo County Jail. The trial was short with the only defense being that the men were bootleggers caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The jury took only a half hour to convict them all on May 16, 1925, and a half hour after the verdict they were sentenced. All five were sent to Marquette prison for life. The court read this statement by Judge Weimer, These men are potential murderers. From the time they left Millburg
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Education News
By Tracy Gierada NBHS reached 1,016 in school programs alone last year, and we are quickly on our way to exceeding that record during the 2011-12 school year. This fall, for the first time, I took the Coloma 4th graders on historical tours of Coloma Cemetery. The students enjoyed learning about people from the past and seeing memorials to their lives in the cemetery along with photos from the museums collection. We expect that these tours will now be a yearly tradition. The annual cemetery tours for Watervliet students have been postponed due to the construction on M -140, and will take place in April. The 3rd grade classes from Watervliet North Elementary visited the museum on November 9. In addition to covering our Native American, lumbering, and farming exhibits, we also explored the
Women in Baseball exhibit and imagined the Watervliet known by Maud Nelson a century ago. Teacher Kim Schaefer wrote to tell us, The kids had so much fun! You do a wonderful job of making the history come alive to the students! Thank you to volunteer guides Kathleen Walter and Joan Polaskey for helping to provide another great set of school tours at the museum. We have also seen a rise in the use of our Traveling Trunk programs. Before the new year the trunks will be used with 3rd graders at Coloma Elementary (Potawatomi Past & Present), Countryside Academy (Michigans Fruit Belt), and Watervliet North Elementary (Fur, Forest & Frontier Days). This year we are also offering Gingerbread House decorating for elementary classes in December, for $3 per house, and a number of groups are scheduled to visit for that fun activity in the week before Christmas.
Left: Attorney Edward B. Stark of Hartford. Right: In 1938, Dorothy Stark appeared on the cover of Life magazine with her future husband Robert Cannell. The magazine was recently acquired by the museum.
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Excerpt from Survey Results Question 6: How interested are you in these possible exhibit features? Rank topics from 1 to 5, with 1 being not interested and 5 being very interested. The highest interest was shown in: Possible Exhibit Outdoor history walking trail Detailed map of Paw Paw Lake history Historical video viewing area Stagecoach reproduction to enter Steamship reproduction to walk on Average 3.92 3.84 3.61 3.59 3.55
online exhibits and overall there was interest in utilizing new technologies. If you would like the chance to submit your own responses to this survey, a paper version is available at the museum upon request. As always if you have any further questions or comments feel free to contact the museum.
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Left to Right: Director of Education Tracy Gierada, Dolly Niemiec Konwinski (Grand Rapids Chicks/ Battle Creek Belles), Doris Cookie Cook (Kalamazoo Lassies/ South Bend Blue Sox), Rosemary Stevenson (Grand Rapids Chicks), and Executive Director Alex Gates.
Stephanie Daniels, Ted & JoAnn Tees, June, Dale & Sandy Nafziger, Kevin Hester, and Sam Monte. On October 29, large groups attended our Annual Halloween Cemetery Tours in Coloma and Watervliet. In Coloma, graves covered for the first time included Nathan Knapp, the cemeterys only War of 1812 veteran, and Laura Baker, a pioneer airline stewardess and namesake of Colomas downtown park. Graves discussed for the first time in Watervliet included Frank Sterner, a lifelong miller who brought the first electricity to Watervliet in 1905. Another new Watervliet story was that of Captain Lyman Feltus who helped usher in the Paw Paw Lake tourist era with his steamers Margaret (named for his daughter) and Gypsy, and his development of Edgewater Resort and the Wigwam Hotel. Phyllis Rose, a travel writer from the Kalamazoo Gazette, enjoyed our cemetery tours and visited the museum the following week to complete a feature article on NBHS.
Below, Left to Right: 1. The history tent at Hays Park, near the Watervliet dams removal project, provoked great discussions at the 2011 Tri-City Heritage Tour. 2. Inside the Coloma Interurban Station at the Tri-City Heritage Tour, a historical presentation begins. 3. Over forty people attended our annual Coloma Cemetery Tour in late October.
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I may like to
Volunteer
Donations
Jean Fannin Kathleen Walter Rod Krieger Penny Hanks Suzanne Knutson Dave Kliss Margaret Schmieding John Reid
In Memory of Dorothy Cannell James & Mona Mackimmie Sally Williams Donald & Rheta Peters Thom Cannell Nancy Cannell Litaker Mary Alyce Hettig George & Francie Wooley Dolores Krenek In Memory of George Wooley Donald & Claire Wooley Dolores Krenek Alice Mow Linda Stibal Milt Stibal Scott Young Margaret Schmieding Belzora Bibs Page Joyce Kolenko Jan Sieber Marge DuVernay Judi White Dave Kliss Fran Konya Jim Polashak Sherry Polashak
Thank you to all the many donors to our Holiday Open House Cookie Walk!
December 1
Holiday Lights & Music Gala
A Fundraiser with local holiday treats and live music by Carl Payne and Becky & Les Burford. Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at the door Hagar Bainbridge Coloma Watervliet
December 2 - 4
Favorite Tree Contest
Free Admission, Santas Workshop crafts, Gingerbread House decorating, Live music, Santa & Mrs. Claus, Cookie Walk www.NorthBerrienHistory.org