The Morrow County Historical Society met April 11 for their Annual Dinner and Meeting with the theme of “Letters Live”. Many members brought letters to display and share as per the theme of the meeting. Copies of actual letters from the collection of the Historical Society were placed around the centerpieces for the guests to read.

Phylis Miller and Mike Wilson recognized the members who had passed away over the year. Mike then conducted the business meeting, recognizing members for their work at the History Center, recognized the two new board members — Brad Wood and Julie Blankenship — and called for a vote for the slate of officers and board members.

The program this year was an overview of the year from the Annual Dinner of 2023 to the Annual Dinner of 2024. Kevin Evans put together a powerpoint showing our activities during our open season, April through the first weekend in December, and the work we did over the winter to prepare for this season.

The first event of the year was the 175th Anniversary of Morrow County display showing off our memorabilia from previous celebrations and an open house with cake, punch, mints and nuts started off our season. We also featured photography and the photographers in Morrow County. Kevin Evans did a History Talk about the display. Feed Sacks and Aprons was another display with Patti Feustel giving a History Talk on the various styles of aprons and the use of feed sacks in everyday items.

The village walks started up again with the addition of The Famous and Infamous, highlighting the people who lived in or passed through Mt. Gilead. An Architecture Walk pointed out the various styles Mt. Gilead has to show in their buildings and some of the changes that took place with the Courthouse and descriptions of interiors of buildings. Murder, Mystery and Mayhem 2.0 was a continuation of the goings on in the village with all new stories and stops.

Halfway through our season, we changed our exhibits to feature the song “Over There” and musical instruments. “Over There” was written by a Morrow County Resident Mrs. Essig. Although Cohen’s name is on the music, we have the certificate on display showing that Mrs. Essig was the original writer of the song. Tools and Kitchen Gadgets completed our new displays

We had a bed turning at the Cross House featuring the more interesting quilts in the Historical Society’s collection. Patti Feustel gave a History Talk about their origin and quilt pattern design.

Historical Society member Sharon Kincade displayed her angel collection and gave a talk about how and where she found the angels for her collection. We offered a Make – It, Take -It angel craft the month of November.

New for us was a craft project we called Sip and Pour. As we sipped water or punch, Bethany Barton demonstrated the art of acrylic pour and we created four coasters. It was a fun evening and very different for the Historical Society.

Other activities we did in the months we were open was the Ice Cream Social at the Cross House. The house was open for guests to tour and see our special display of dolls. The Rhodebeck family played music for our guests to enjoy while eating their ice cream.

The Garverick Log House, another property of the Historical Society and was open for visitors for Fair Days at the fairgrounds. They had a special exhibit of Belgian Horse Ribbons from the Historical Society’s collection. The Log House was also open during the Morrow County Fair.

Once school started, we had 3rd grade visitors from Cardington, Highland, Northmor and the Gilead Christian School tour our museum as part of their local history experience. Society members Ellen McMurray and Barb Brewer went to their school to show artifacts and talk about what it was like to go to school in a one room school house.

In December, the annual HPM reunion concluded their time together by stopping by the History Center to see our exhibit on the HPM. The stories and looking at photos brought back many memories. Some of the former employees brought items to be donated for our display. This was followed by a special visit from the members of HPM/Yizumi in Iberia. We had visitors from China who toured our HPM Room and saw photos of the larger than life machinery. They had never seen a photograph of one of the machines loaded on trailers to be transported and were amazed at the size of the transport. The new HPM/Yizumi builds smaller pieces of machinery.

The board members decided we had an exterior blank wall that needed something so they hired Mt. Gilead High School Art teacher Jesse Thompson to paint a mural about our county. It was designed to look like an old postcard with “Greetings from Morrow County,” and a deckled edge with a little shadow. It has been the background for many photo opportunities.

We have participated in community activities with the History Center being opened during the Car Show in August. We decorated the museum lobby to look haunted and had nearly 900 visitors come through and we were open for Christmas in the Village. A good place to warm up and visit our History Center at the same time.

We closed our doors to the public and the real work began. We switched the RumRill Room with the Military Room and the move was worth it. The Delaware Historical Society had 5 display cases they were donating to anyone in need and we took them. The Military Room has a new, fresh look to it with more room to move around and see everything. On March 25, we invited all veterans in the county to visit our new military room. We were presented with a proclamation from Robert Spraque, State Treasurer and concluded with a ribbon cutting ceremony opening the Military Room to the public.

The new RumRill Room got a fresh coat of paint, new flooring and shows off our pottery beautifully.

The HPM Room got a new look with a more chronological order of “How It Started with an Apple” and showing the progression from cider press to the large machinery.

The Chapel has been temporarily changed into a Clothier Store showcasing clothing and accessories from our collection.

We have a display showcasing Communications and the Post Office with several items on display on loan from our own Mt. Gilead Post Office. Kevin Evans has displayed his Grange collection. He will be doing a History Talk on “Where Have All the Granges Gone?” later in the year. With the 2024 election coming up, we displayed our local and county election memorabilia including the “hanging” chads! From now until Nov. you can vote for your favorite flavor of ice cream, whether you prefer a cat or a dog as a pet or your favorite sweet or salty snack. There is also an opportunity for write in candidates. Results will be displayed in the window of the History Center.

Our Dr. Nathan Tucker exhibit has expanded with more pieces including the visitor’s book from the notorious Toquet Club. Can you find President and Mrs. Harding’s signatures?

In connection with our Military Room, we now have a special exhibit in the main lobby featuring the Homefront during the war which is next to the Victory Shaft display as they go hand in hand together.

Our final new display which will be coming down soon is the Solar Eclipse display featuring solar eclipse glasses, pieces of meteorite, items not to use when looking at the eclipse, several books on the times and locations to view the eclipse, cereal box view finders and an interactive model of how the solar eclipse will effect Mt. Gilead. In the window, we showed a count down of how many days until the big event and posted on Facebook Eclipse Tips to prepare for the big day. We offered directions on how to make your own box view finder, coloring pages and activity pages related to the eclipse. These items will be archived and stored for the future History Center volunteers to unbox in 2099.

And finally, we have our new trick-fold calendars out showcasing the new displays, History Talks and Walking tours with two new walks added. Tombstones and the Stories They Tell will feature a walk through Rivercliff Cemetery and talking about the symbols and inscriptions on the stones. The other new walk is Burgers, Shakes and Pies and will feature the restaurants along Main Street with a stop at the Sweet Spot for ice cream!

We also added two more tours, a self-guided walking tour of the village and a self-guided driving tour of the county. These can be found in display boxes mounted on the building near our front door. We also have our tri-fold calendars there too.

Our annual meeting was concluded with readings of actual letters written by local members of our community, one dating back to 1886. This was a taste of two History Talks being given in September and October, Letters Live and Poetry Live.

The History Center is open every Sunday from 1:30 – 4 p.m. We even expanded our hours and now have a website: MorrowCountyHistoricalSociety.com, which has our complete calendar of events on it.

Submitted by the Morrow County Historical Society.