News: Neillsville - Jail Museum (Monthly Meeting - 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Roberts, Koeberl, Krueger, Anderson, Rehberg, Bjerke, Erpenbach, Pischer, Seif, Quicker

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/23/2013

1897 Clark County Jail Museum (Monthly Meeting - 8 January 2013)

The monthly membership and board of directors meeting of the 1897 Clark County Jail Museum was held Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013.

The secretary and treasurer’s reports were given and accepted as presented. President Steve Roberts reported on the successful turnout for the “Christmas Tour of Homes” event in December. Members Bonnie Koeberl, Sue Krueger, Shirley Anderson and others did a wonderful job decorating the house in traditional Victorian fashion -- featuring hand-crocheted white ornaments. Special violin (Isaac Rehberg) and pump organ (Sharon Bjerke) music was provided, and, with the help of additional volunteers, a truly wonderful time was had by everyone.

Steve reported a tour was given to a local Boy Scout troop, and Natalie Erpenbach had also given a presentation on Neillsville’s early history (as part of their unit on “Heritage”) to this same group of scouts.

The Jail Museum will once again participate in the Neillsville Winter Carnival, Saturday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors are invited to view photographs and other items in a display called “City of Neillsville - Old picture Day.” It’s always fun to look at old pictures and remember what people looked like years ago. Neillsville’s businesses, citizens, school teams and clubs, military events and community celebrations will be featured. This should be a fun event for people of all ages!

Natalie and Steve reported that the “Images of Clark County” book (Arcadia Publishing) they have written has been delivered to the publisher. The book is scheduled for release May 27, 2013, and is already available for “pre-order” at a discounted price on Amazon.com. All royalties from this book will be given to the 1897 Clark County jail Museum, the Clark County Historical Society and the Clark County Wisconsin History Buffs website.

Harvey Pischer reported on the new maintenance schedule for flushing the boiler (heating system) valves and the process needed to go through on a regular basis to avoid corrosion and problems down the road.

In other matters, the donation of a By-Lo baby doll and a crib (circa 1920s) from Mary Jane Seif was reported. Snick Quicker offered to share the photographs he took of the museum during the Tour of Homes, and Bonnie Koeberl and Sue Krueger have been busy sorting and packing away the Christmas decorations that that decorating will be simpler next year.

The next membership meeting, open to the public as always will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the Museum, 215 East Fifth St. Neillsville. Call any of the officers or the museum office (715-743-2150) if interested in helping, for a tour or to research local history or families. Further information is available at the museum’s website (www.1897clarkcountyjailmuseum.com) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/1897CCJM).