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OHS Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 2, July 2000
In this issue: Officers and Directors 2000
Newsletter Editorial Staff
President's Message Thanks to Betty Klingelhoefer and her committee for conducting a very successful 2000 Historical Calendar sale, so start making a list of your potential customers for our 2001 Historical Calendar. City officials have included funds in the 2000-2001 budget for maintenance of the Museum. The furnace needs to be replaced and a section of the roof needs to be repaired. The City also provides all of the utilities for the museum. Please thank our city officials for their continued support of our Society. Our membership has remained stable. Let's make an effort to increase our membership to 125 by January 2001. Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization. We can be thankful that we have some very dedicated people who have donated many hours of service to the Society. If you have some free time, please sign up to help supervise the Museum, help with exhibits, serve on committees and serve as an officer. Special Thanks We would like to thank everyone who has helped at the Museum, especially Ralph Keller who opens the Museum every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. We would like to thank everyone who has donated items for display. A special thanks to Bill Peach and Kathy Danielson for letting us make copies of their postcards and pictures. Now these pictures are available to everyone. Items of Interest Our 2000 Historical Calendar sale was a huge success -- thanks to Betty Klingelhoefer, Chairman, and her committee and to everyone who bought or sold calendars. The Girl Scouts of O'Fallon brought a large can filled with items of interest that they had collected. We had the items displayed for several months and they are now put away. It is their "time capsule" and in several years the "time capsule" will be on display again. Maurice Hesse, Brian Keller and Joyce and Ralph Lurtz traveled to Springfield, IL. on Mar. 29 to represent our Museum at the 2nd annual Museum Day at the Capitol Building -- our first time to attend. They took artifacts and pictures from the museum to display at our table on the main floor of the State House, a short walk from the rotunda. They were well received and had many interested visitors, including Laura Lynn Ryan, Gov. Ryan's wife. They visited most of the other exhibits and left feeling good about our Museum and its mission. They hope to attend again next year. We had our second "O'Fallon Walk" on May 19th during Historical Preservation week in conjunction with the O'Fallon Historical Commission. Carol Souza donated a printer for our computer and Carol, Ruth Grandcolas and Barbara Nute have started putting information about the Society on the computer. Thank you! Programs Jan. 18, 2000 Mary Helen Bevirt presented an oral history made by Vera McGuire. Feb. 18, 2000 No program. Mar. 21, 2000 Fred Wiechert told us about the O'Fallon Methodist Church. Apr. 16, 2000 Ralph Keller told us about the Taylor Opera House. May 16, 2000 Joyce Lurtz served us refreshments and we toured the Museum. Jun. 20, 2000 Betty Klingelhoefer told us about the St. Clare's Church. Exhibits and Collections - Brian Keller Did you know that a complete tour of our Museum, including the 2nd floor, takes about 2 hours and that's the short version! There's certainly a lot to see but it is always a work in progress. We're always trying to make it better. And there's always something new to see. 169 signed our register Jan.-Jun. but our actual visitor count is probably several times that. Were you one of them? We're in the process of transferring our O'Fallon Progress collection and other papers into acid free boxes. We're also reorganizing and trying to improve the way our artifacts are recorded, displayed and stored. We've amassed quite a collection of research materials making organization a challenge. Here's a sampling of some of the donations we've received from our generous friends both near and far in the 1st half of 2000: O'Fallon Girl Scouts Time Capsule; advertising mirrors from Beckman's barbershop; O'Fallon scenes picture collage; brass mortar and pestle from Bittles Drug Store; 1941 Army scripture readings book; 1800s high relief decorative bricks; 1903 mine examiner competency certificate; 1971 O'Fallon Boy Scouts autographed birch bark and picture; 1954 Cornet Magazine with Wm. Holden Camel ad; Central Hotel billfold; 1953 Maytag washer; 1904 promissory note; 1800s books and documents from pioneer Ogle, Beedle and Begole families and Homecoming slides and much much more, especially numerous paper items and lots of pictures. Many thanks to the following who donated items: Ray Brasel, Jenny Brave, John Bode, Betty Carroll, Dietz Dairy Farm, Karen Fulton, Ruth Grandcolas, Shirley Greene, Margaret Heinke, Wayne Heilig, Doris Johnson, Laura Joseph, Brian Keller, Joyce Koesterer, Arline Magee, Donna Mathis, Shirley Mullett, Barbara Nute, O'Fallon Girl Scouts, O'Fallon Woman's Cub, Bill Peach, Lois Rachell, Dick Richardson, Leslie Schau, Nancy Schmisseur, Carol Souza, Gene Thomas, Leola Titter, Fred & Mary Wiechert, Jan Lawrence Wouters and Edna Wright. Special thanks to Maurice Hesse who arranged for the donation of 10 more panels for our swinging display unit. Keep the donations coming! Thanks especially to our volunteers who staff the Museum and give tours during and after hours. In November we will feature our annual Veterans Day Exhibit and in December our Christmas display. Be sure to stop in for a look. Library Committee - Doris Johnson I have been busy adding information to my scrapbooks about O'Fallon. I have done research for: Christian Wheeler (Wright and Rohay), Don and Floy Hinrichson (Boyce and Erwin), Barbara Elliott (Jesse Elliott) and Blanche Ogle (Ogle family). I picked out 34 pictures for O'Charley's Restaurant, took them to Marvin's Camera Shop to have negatives made, had them sent to Huber Décor and picked up the original pictures. Please take time to look at them if you go to O'Charley's. They gave us a nice donation for letting them use our pictures. Oral History - Mary Helen and Charles Bevirt Mary Helen and Charles interviewed Bill Jenner. We also made a tape of Fred Wiechert's talk about the O'Fallon Methodist Church and they are going to make one of Betty Klingelhoefer's talk about the St. Clare Church. Membership Committee - Carol Souza Our membership as of June 20, 2000 is 105. We have 18 Family, 44 Individual and 43 Life Memberships. New members since our last newsletter are: Margaret Heinke, Arline Magee, Phyllis Simpson and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Suggs all of O'Fallon. We have lost 2 Life Members: Bernetta Jackson and Irma Meckfessel. Our sympathy goes out to their families. Rock Spring Cemetery Committee - Maurice Hesse The membership of the Society approved the requesting of the city officials of the City of O'Fallon to annex the one-acre cemetery to the city. The city boundaries surround the cemetery and so the annexation should not be a problem. The Society membership also requested that the City of O'Fallon be responsible for the maintenance of the cemetery. The Cemetery Committee also met with the O'Fallon Township officials and requested that they include $1,000 in the Township budget for the fiscal year 2000-2001 for the maintenance of the cemetery. This request was approved at the annual township meeting that was held in April 2000. It is our hope that with these funds we will be able to maintain the cemetery until the City of O'Fallon approves annexation and maintenance. The Society expresses their sincere appreciation to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Brennan for their devoted service in the maintaining of the historical cemetery. 2000 Historical Calendar - Betty Klingelhoefer I want to thank everyone who made our 2000 Calendar project a success. I will be asking for bids for the 2001 Historical Calendar in the near future. I hope that everyone will help with this project again. We made a nice profit. Memorials:
Rae Jean Wood - in memory of George Wood Looking Back - Doris Johnson The Lehman family operated a barbershop in O'Fallon for three generations and now that era has come to an end. William H. Lehman was born in Terra Haute, Indiana and learned the barbering trade in St. Louis at the age of 14 years. Before opening a shop on West State Street in 1880, he had operated shops in Caseyville and Troy, Illinois. Gordon Lehman, William's son, began his trade with his father in 1906. They moved their shop to 115 East State Street in 1926. William retired a few years before his death in 1934. He had served as a member of the village board in 1894-1895 and presided as president of the board in 1897-1898. Bill Lehman, Gordon's son, finished barber school and joined the business at the end of World War II. They moved the shop to the present location at 123 E. State Street in 1956. Jack Lehman, also Gordon's son, took over his dad's chair three years later. The brothers decided to retire in 2000. They have leased the barbershop to Tim Vecera, who promises to maintain the business as it has been. It is nice to know that the Lehman Barbershop will remain in existence, even though Bill and Jack Lehman are taking a well-deserved rest. ATTENTION: Please remember to stop in to visit the Museum. We are always getting in new things to see. Bring friends and relatives. Our hours are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 1 to 4 P.M. |
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