Don’t make lunch or supper plans for Thursday, May 23rd. The Clay County Historic preservation Commission will hold its annual gathering at the W. H. Over Museum. We enjoy getting together with friends and guests to delve into our past material culture, and invite all with an interest in local history to join us.
The makings of a princely sandwich will be provided during the noon hour, including bread from red Wagon Bakery, and greens from the greenhouse at the Heikes family farms. An assortment of juices will be offered, along with home baked cookies.
Jim Wilson will start with a presentation on historic brick and show samples from the recently razed Danish barn and Bob Hansen, the accomplished traditional mason from Yankton will provide his expertise. The mid-afternoon program will be an informal and evolving discussion of the role of trees in our development of this landscape with expert explanation by noted expert. Dr. Molly Rozum. She will focus on why and how various kinds of trees came to appear on the plains. There will be discussion of lumber milling technology featuring local experts Gene Hawkins and John Erikson. There should be an opportunity to look at and actually use an historic tool or two. The audience has been carefully seeded with a range of expertise, which should result in a fascinating free-wheeling discussion.
We will be joined by representatives of the South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office.
Joe Reiser has been persuaded to cook an evening meal for us – his barbecue is the real thing. And then at 7:00 Pm Jim Stone will give us an update on his ongoing survey of historic barns of Clay County – and unveil a half-inch scale model of a barn that he has just completed.
A sense of place is especially important when so much of our culture is homogenized and disposable, and a community event focused on developing that solid foundation is a valuable opportunity. Don’t miss this one. A free, informative and fun community event.
For further information contact Jim Wilson at whitewilson@msn.com