On August 23, 2015, the Morrison County Historical Society held celebratory events in honor of the 40th anniversary of The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum. Ann Marie Johnson, MCHS curator of collections, had the camera ready and took loads of pictures. [See photos at end of post.]
First up, there was an open house at the Weyerhaeuser Museum in the afternoon, with a fountain re-dedication program led by Mary Warner, MCHS museum manager, and ribbon cutting for the newly restored fountain by Ren Holland, who served on the original Design Committee for the museum.
Refreshments were served to our full house of guests, with cookies made by board member Cathy Adamek. She made some using chocolate in memory of Art Warner, who served as MCHS president for 47 years and passed away suddenly a week before the anniversary.
In the evening the celebration moved to the Falls Ballroom, where guests were treated to dinner and a program that covered the history of the Weyerhaeuser Museum. The program theme, which was conceived of by Jan Warner, MCHS executive director, was based on the Aesop’s fable “The Bundle of Sticks.” There was an activity at the beginning of the program wherein guests took the individual sticks at their tables and tied them into a bundle and were asked to try to break the bundle, thus illustrating the strength-in-unity message of the fable.
Lucy Rosenberry Jones, granddaughter of Charles A. Weyerhaeuser, spoke about how the Bundle of Sticks fable was part of the Weyerhaeuser family’s philosophy.
Board members and staff presented the history of how the Weyerhaeuser Museum came to be, the philosophy of the organization, and how everyone related to the organization pulls together to make things happen. As part of the history portion of the program, Ren Holland, who served on the original Design Committee for the museum, spoke about the philosophy that was behind the design of the building.
Letters sent in honor of the 40th anniversary were read by board members. MCHS received letters from the following:
Deborah Low, wife of John Low, who designed the museum’s permanent exhibits
Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, authors of “The Gold Rush Widows of Little Falls”
Bruce White, a Minnesota historian specializing in Ojibwe and Dakota history
The program also included a special dedication to Art and Jan Warner, who have been involved with MCHS for 50 years and have been instrumental in making the organization progressive and highly respected in the state.
As illustrated by “The Bundle of Sticks,” we could not have managed the 40th anniversary celebration without a lot of help. Our appreciation goes to the following for their contributions to the event:
Ricky Masog and his crew for refurbishing and reinstalling the fountain
Chuck Hauer for his electric work on the fountain
Marv’s Wood Products for building planters
Little Falls Greenhouse for donating flowers
Falls Ballroom for preparing the dinner
Eric Beuning of the Morrison County Record for writing an article about the anniversary
Lucy Rosenberry Jones for speaking at the program
Ren Holland for cutting the ribbon at the fountain re-dedication and for speaking at the program
Erik Warner for fixing panels in the courtyard
Byron Quinn for assisting with landscaping
David Becker for general assistance
Char Welle for general assistance
Dee Wielinski for recording the evening program
Marge Hill for greeting people at the dinner
Deborah Low, Linda Peavy, Ursula Smith, and Bruce White for their letters
The entire MCHS Board of Directors for their work on the event, including preparing the courtyard (cleaning, painting, and landscaping), decorating, providing refreshments, and presenting the program. Board members include Cathy Adamek, Irene Becker, Tom Heying, Lee Obermiller, Pat Quinn, Camille Warzecha, Duane Welle, and Stan Wielinski.
The MCHS staff, including Ann Marie Johnson, Alice Smuda, and Mary Warner
Last, but certainly not least, we thank Art and Jan Warner, who have served as guiding lights to the Morrison County Historical Society for the past half-century.
