Society Gets Grant For New Exhibit

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Historical So- ciety recently received a $1,000 grant to make some major headway on a new exhibit at the Wilson- Phillips House.

Jeff Broom, the presi- dent of the group, said the Blue Mountain Community Foundation gave the money to the society to help it complete an ex- hibit in the Wilson-Phillips House garage on Waits Mill, the town's namesake.

The society applied for the grant last spring, Broom said, and now the group will focus on getting some work done on the ex- hibit this winter.

"We'll do it as we find the time," he said.

Lawson Knight, the ex- ecutive director of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation, said his orga- nization gave the historical society the funding because it makes sure it invests across the whole region and added the society has "great leadership."

Broom said the new ex- hibit won't likely be totally complete until the next Pio- neer Fall Festival in 2014.

The garage's mill dis- play will include a turbine and replica of the mill that once stood north of the town.

The society also recently learned it did not qualify for $13,000 in grant money through the state Community Economic Revitaliza- tion Board. It was hoping the money would help fund an informational kiosk to be placed at the mill site to honor the historic building that once stood there.

But the group is still making some progress on the kiosk.

Broom said the archi- tectural firm Jones & Jones is already making preliminary drawings of what the kiosk will look like and is coming up with different designs to make the kiosks as affordable as possible. Also, Broom is thinking of expanding beyond the kiosk one day to eventually include some picnic tables or a historical display at the mill site.

The city of Waitsburg was the entity that applied for the Community Economic

Revitalization Board grant and Broom said every three or four months when other grant opportunities become available, the city will continue to apply.

In addition to planning future projects, the society also had a meeting where it discussed how the Pioneer Fall Festival went this year and what changes could be made to the festival next year.

" We thought it went well," Broom said.

Next year there will be more of an effort to pro- vide some kind of in-town transportation to allow the elderly and disabled to hitch a ride to the festival, Broom said.

The festival-goers en- joyed having the city's restaurants open, but there still seemed to be a need for more food on the museum grounds for vendors and volunteers, he said. He's toying with the idea of having a sack lunch option that visitors can order when they arrive.

"There's a lot of ways to do it," Broom added.

Finally, the historical society is looking for new members to volunteer or join the board. Broom said anyone who appreciates history is welcome. Those interested can call Broom at 509-337-6688.