Planning 2020 Events
The Historical Society had a meeting on May 19th, 2020. The present plans are to hold these events:
The Ice Cream Social on July 18, 2020
The Fair Grove Heritage Reunion on Sept. 26th and 27th
A work night will be held at the mill on Tuesday, May 26th at 6 p.m.
Special Note: We are always seeking new old pictures (never published before) for our annual calendar. If you haven't dug through those boxes of pictures that grandma left you, this weekend is a good time to do it. Contact Dan Manning if you find something we can use. If you can name people in the pictures that's great, but any pictures of people in this area in the 1960s or earlier is of interest.
There are still a lot of vendors and crafters who are planning to be at the Heritage Reunion. As everyone is aware, it's difficult to make plans because of the shifting events that are the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with anyone else, we are subject to government regulations and restrictions on all public events.
Dispersing Unused Items
In 2019 we started trying to dispose of a pretty sizable collection of items we no longer needed. Most of that inventory has been sold, with the exception of some steel wheels. If you're still looking, you can see a list by clicking here.
Heritage Reunion 2019 Update
We're a little over two months out, and thought it was a good time to update the Fair Grove community and our crafter and musician friends.
After some major changes in responsibilities, things are going great!
- We have been able to contact, or have been contacted by, all but a handful of crafters who had booths last year. Since there is always a little attrition with people retiring or focusing on different areas or simply deciding to not come, we think this is all very normal. However, if you are a crafter and expect to have a booth at the Heritage Reunion this year, you absolutely must contact us with the information on the Applications page.
- All slots for musical performers are filled. Sorry if you missed a chance to perform but there's always next year.
- If you would like to have an antique car, truck or tractor in the Heritage Reunion Parade you need to plan to be in the High School parking lot between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 28th.
- Cross your fingers, pray and/or thrown salt over your shoulder hoping for good weather.
- The Historical Society is selling ads for the Heritage Reunion Program book. If you are interested in advertising, contact one of these people:
The Ice Cream Social is coming up in less than two weeks, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone there for a good time. If you have an antique or showplace car or truck, remember to drive it in to display.
This is good news!
The Historical Society is determined to make sure that if you had a booth at the Heritage Reunion last year, that you will be able to get the same booth next year. We want that to happen, and it's going to happen.
But this means you should help us out be contacting us on the Applications page, or call 417-759-2807 and let us know you're coming back! It's just that easy.
Stay in touch and let us know if you have any concerns in this area. We're all looking forward to this fall.
Rebooting
You might notice that there have been some internal changes in the last couple of months at the Historical Society. Without going into details, the board of directors completely severed the relationship they had with one person who previously played a significant role in our operations.
As a result of this, the following things are rapidly changing.
- There is a new website (this is it). Much remains to be done. It will be changing for the better.
- There is a new Facebook page, which you can find here. There have been two old Facebook pages, one for the Historical Society and one for the Heritage Reunion. Please unlike and unfollow both of those pages and update any bookmarks, because those pages are no longer under our control.
- A new person will be coordinating the Heritage Reunion fair, especially in the arrangements for the booth rental and placement. If you had complaints about the behavior of the previous coordinator, that's all in the past.
- The Historical Society will be producing the guidebook / program for the Heritage Reunion, and will be selling ads for that book directly to merchants and others.
- There will be more people who are involved with posting information, and we hope for more interesting and dynamic information on both the website and on Facebook.
- Probably more, stay tuned...
This is a reboot of much of the public-facing interaction of the Historical Society. Please be patient, and if you want to volunteer to help it's quite welcome.