Museums

Museum to preview all-school reunion (03/09/10)
"Decades of Excellence," a preview of the Le Mars Community High School All-School Reunion, will be 2 p.m. Sunday, March 14 at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Carolyn Vance, director of the Le Mars Community School District's Alumni Association, will share details of the coming reunion. Some reminiscing by alumni is also planned...

Museum plans 'Spring Preview of Authors (02/16/10)
"Spring Preview of Authors" will put the spotlight on Kingsley during the Plymouth County Historical Museum's first 2010 program Sunday, Feb. 21. The book signing and program will begin at 2 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor. Doors to the museum will be open from 1-5 p.m...

Chamber, Museum offer New Year's Eve entertainment (12/29/09)
Two New Year's Eve events will offer area residents an opportunity to ring in the new year and also raise money for comunity projects and the preservation of the area's history. New this year is the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce New Year's Eve Dance at the Le Mars Convention Center upper level...

Museum ball tickets now on sale (12/23/09)
Tickets are now on sale at Lally's East Side Restaurant in Le Mars for "New York! New York!," a New Year's Eve Ball sponsored annually in "Old Central" gym by the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars. Tickets also can be purchased at the museum during open hours, every day from 1-5 p.m. except Mondays. Tickets are available at the door on the night of the dance...

Museum plans New Year's ball (12/10/09)
"New York! New York!" once again will be the theme for the New Year's Eve Ball at the Plymouth County Historical Museum Thursday, Dec. 31, in Le Mars. This year's ball is being billed as a family event. The evening will include a children's movie in the Music Room for those wishing to bring children or grandchildren...

Museum to host 'Tree Skirts and Tea' (12/04/09)
After completing a record-breaking "Great Garage and Bake Sale," the Plymouth County Historical Museum is preparing for its annual holiday open house, "Tree Skirts and Tea," Sunday. The open house at the countywide museum in Le Mars will feature a program at 2 p.m. in the Music Room about historic Christmas tree skirts...

Who's 'In the Moood for Fun?' (10/23/09)
What's the best part of the Halloween season? Trick-or-treating and having fun. Both are offered for elementary school-age children and their families from 6-8 p.m. Monday and 4-6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Ice Cream Capital of the World Visitor Center/Museum in Le Mars during "In the Moood for Fun!" which also includes brief museum tours...

Museum to host railroading program, ethnic food fair (10/19/09)
Railroading in Plymouth County and ethnic foods of the area will be the focus of a program Sunday at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. The Rev. Gary Landsness of St. John's Lutheran Church, ELCA, Le Mars, will present a program on railroading at 1:30 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor...

Ice Cream Days begins with social and outdoor movie (06/16/09)
Two . . . One . . . The countdown to Ice Cream Days is melting away. Thursday the Le Mars event kicks off with the first melt-in-your-mouth activities, including the annual Primebank Ice Cream Social and ice cold rootbeer floats in the Plymouth County Historical Museum...

Ice Cream Days 2009 Schedule of Events (06/15/09)
THURSDAY, JUNE 18 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. "Cone Sculptures" crafted by area artists in various media for outdoor exhibit at The Arts Center, 200 Central Avenue SE. Sculptures will be auctioned to public bidders for private placement around Le Mars. 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Ice-cold root beer floats in the 1940's Miller's Leech diner, "Milestone Memories" exhibit of historic wedding dresses, five floors of history at the Plymouth County Historical Museum, 335 1st Avenue SW. Free admission...

Museum to dedicate stained glass window (06/10/09)
Flag Day will take on a different twist at the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars this Sunday, June 14, when the museum hosts the dedication of a stained glass window. The window, which was in the former First United Methodist Church in Le Mars, will be dedicated in the museum's Religious Heritage Room following a brief program at 2 p.m. in the Music Room...

Tour highlights new life for two historic buildings (05/08/09)
(Fourth and final in a series) Two buildings, a former church and a former high school, have been converted to new uses while still maintaining their historical significance in the community. A church building at 401 First St. S.W. is now a residence for Eric Wong, who purchased it from the Assembly of God Church...

Historic tour offers look at pink granite Victorian home (05/07/09)
(Third in a series) Pink granite from quarries around Sioux Falls, S.D., and a location on the curve of Highway 3 West make the Victorian style home at 11 Sixth Ave. S.W. stand out. The house, now owned by Randy and Berdene Barta and home to Berdene's, a reservation-only dining establishment and the Bartas, is one of five stops on the 2009 Historic Tour of Homes and Churches this Saturday...

St. George's Episcopal Church a stop on historic tour (05/06/09)
(Second in a series) A church building, erected at a cost of $3,200 in 1881, is one of five stops on the Historic Tour of Homes and Churches Saturday, May 9. St. George' Episcopal Church at 400 First Ave. S.E. was built in response to the need for an Anglican church in Le Mars for the young British men who were being sent to this area to learn farming. In the next 10 years, an estimated 1,000 English colonists would use the building as a worship and social center...

Historic homes tour set for May 9 (05/01/09)
The Le Mars Historic Preservation commission and the Plymouth County Historical Museum will host this year's Tour of Historic Homes and Churches Saturday, May 9. The tour gives participants an opportunity to see inside homes in Le Mars that have unique features come with a little bit of local history...

Area bowler strikes her way to hall of fame (04/30/09)
Elsie Slagter started bowling in 1950 when she was about 22. In a little more than a decade, the Marcus woman would be regionally famous for her skills in 10-pin. Sixty years later -- April 2009 -- she'd join Iowa's hall of fame for female bowlers. That announcement took Slagter, who bowled regularly at Sweet 16 lanes in Le Mars, by surprise...

'May Day at the Museum' gives students history lessons (04/28/09)
Approximately 300 Plymouth County fourth grade students took home local history Monday after participating in the ninth annual "May Day at the Museum" at the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars. Learning stations offered the students and teachers a glimpse of local history and gave them the opportunity to explore all floors of the museum...

Players return for seventh annual Accordion Fest (04/15/09)
Carla Drost of Alton and Lyle Koehlmoos of Granville attended the first Art Pahl Accordion Festival in 2003. They have returned each year for the the musical event in the Plymouth County Historical Museum's Old Central Gym. They are two of eight accordion players who plan to be part of the Seventh Annual Art Pahl Accordion Festival this Sunday, April 19...

Plymouth County Historical Museum prepares for annual accordion fest (03/31/09)
For the seventh year, accordion music will fill "Old Central" Gym at the Plymouth County Historical Museum, beginning at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 19. Accordion players from several states are expected to join the jam and provide music for dancing and listening...

'Kitchen memories' leads museum lineup of activities (03/24/09)
Everything from a kitchen memories program to "Woofstock," a celebration of the dog, is on the calendar for visitors to the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars. First up this Sunday, March 29, will be the museum's third "Milestone Memories" monthly program. Joan Kroepel and friends of Le Mars will lead "Memories from the Kitchen Window" program in the museum's Music Room on the main floor...

Museum's 'Milestone Memories' to honor couples (02/10/09)
"Milestone Memories," a program to honor couples who have been married 50 years or longer, will mark Valentine's Day weekend at the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars. Several Plymouth County couples who have been married for at least 50 years will participate in the wedding program at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 15, in the museum's Music Room, on the main floor...

LCS students compete in national quilt block challenge (01/19/09)
Students in the textile arts class at Le Mars Community High School put their skills good use as they designed quilt square for the National Quilt Museum: Museum of the American Quilter's Society/Moda School Block Challenge Contest 2009. LCS family and consumer sciences instructor Rosemary Cronin obtained the entry information for the contest, based in Kentucky, and had the students put their creative energy to work in creating the 16-by-16-inch square blocks using the paper piecing method of construction.. ...

Museum to open year with cemetery program (01/13/09)
"Tombstone Transcriptions" will launch the 2009 program year for the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars at 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 18, in the Museum's Music room. Mary Holub, a member of the Northwest Iowa Genealogy Program, will explain a cemetery program which she has been working on for several months. In transcribing various tombstone etchings, she also has discovered some surprising history...

Museum, ECO Center chosen as grant recipients (01/06/09)
Loess Hills Alliance announced nine organizations within its economic development committee will receive grants for 2009 -- two will go to Plymouth County entities. The Plymouth County Conservation Board will receive $4,000 for construction of its proposed Economic Conservation Opportunities (ECO) Center. The conservation department requested a $10,000 grant...

New Year's at the Museum (01/05/09)

Museum plans silent auction at New Year's Eve ball (12/31/08)
Fifty area businesses from five communities in Plymouth County will have offerings on the Plymouth County Historical Museum's New Year's Eve Ball silent auction tonight (Wednesday). The doors for the silent auction will open at 5:30 p.m. in "Old Central" Gym lobby. Bidding may continue on the auction items until 10 p.m...

Museum plans New Year's Eve ball (12/26/08)
"New York! New York!" once again will be the theme for the Plymouth County Historical Museum's fourth annual New Year's Eve Ball from 7 to 11 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 31. Dancing and fellowship will be available in "Old Central" Gym where "Music Illusions" will star Tom and Patty Mullally and friends. Doors to the Gym lobby will open at 6 p.m...

Museum officials seek county dollars to ride economic storm (12/18/08)
The Plymouth County Historical Museum officials requested the same amount as last year for its 2009-10 fiscal year. Museum officials asked for that $7,000 amount because they understand the economic challenges facing the county's budget for the next year...

What's the next step for museum's study hall? (12/03/08)
Room by room, hallway by hallway, volunteers at the Plymouth County Historical Museum repaired, renovated and brought new life to what was once Le Mars Central High School. Now attention is turning to the fourth floor study hall/library, a large room with windows and at one time, skylights...

Museum plans Pearl Harbor, WWII day (12/02/08)
It was a Sunday afternoon, Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into the fighing of World War II. This Sunday, Dec. 7, the Plymouth County Historical Museum will host the program "Pearl Harbor, World War II Christmas Memories" at 2 p.m. in the museum's "Old Central" Gym in Le Mars...

Kingsley rock hound's collection dates to prehistoric times (11/26/08)
Dr. Robert Powell fell in love with science as a boy. The Kingsley man later became a rock hound, someone interested in rocks, minerals and fossils. "In junior high I was interested in minerals, florescent rocks," Powell said. "I became fascinated with museums."...

Museum looks to Study Hall future Nov. 20 (11/18/08)
Plymouth County residents who are interested in the future of the Study Hall in the Plymouth County Historical Museum are welcome to attend a meeting at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 20, at the museum. Dr. Wayne Marty, former museum board president and volunteer renovation project manager, will present an update on the study hall and explain energy concerns...

Museum Funds Raised (11/10/08)

Memorial will honor Lauters' lifetime love of museum (10/02/08)
Laura Lauters' passion for the Plymouth County Historical Museum lives on. Lauters, 101, died peacefully Tuesday, Sept. 30 at her grandson's home in Fremont, Neb. She will be remembered at an 11 a.m. memorial service Saturday at the the museum. "She used to be a cheerleader," said Judy Bowman, museum administrator. "That's what she was all the time for the museum."...

Pictorial history book of county in progress (09/29/08)
A pictorial history of Plymouth County may soon be a reality, thanks to the efforts of Seney area native Linda Zieman. Zieman made a commitment with Arcadia Publishing of Chicago earlier this year to put together a pictorial history of Plymouth County...

Museum gets new LOST money for chimney repairs (09/24/08)
The Plymouth County Supervisors agreed Tuesday Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money already awarded cannot be redirected to help with chimney repairs at the museum. "We've got a policy issue with that," Supervisor Craig Anderson said. "Money that is not used (for a specific project) should go back into the LOST fund."...

Supervisors to decide if LOST can be used for museum repairs (09/17/08)
The Plymouth County Historical Museum's chimney is crumbling. Judy Bowman, museum administrator, via letter asked the Plymouth County Supervisors' permission to use $1,000 of Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money for the repairs. Museum board members originally asked for the $1,000, already awarded, to replace a shattered glass backboard in the museum's gymnasium...

American Indian art exhibit travels to Plymouth County (08/20/08)
Artist Robert Morris captures the faces of American Indians from across the country, something he began 10 years ago. "I want to paint one Indian from every tribe," Morris said. "I travel all summer and paint all winter." An exhibit featuring 16 of Morris' chalk paintings from his collection "The First Americans" opens at 1 p.m. Wednesday and runs through Friday at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. The museum is open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or in the morning by appointment...

Saturday country music show will benefit flood victims (08/19/08)
A benefit for flood victims at Cedar Rapids with old-time country music will fill the Plymouth County Historical Museum this Saturday, Aug. 23, and give a preview of music to be enjoyed at the 33rd Annual National Old-Time Country & Bluegrass Festival set for Aug. 25-31 in Le Mars...

Dave Grosenheider is fair's 2008 Hall of Fame inductee (07/31/08)
The Plymouth County Fair's 2008 Hall of Fame award recipient wasn't listening as fair board president Terry Reuter began his presentation on the opening night of the fair. He soon perked up as Reuter mentioned KLEM in his talk. Dave Grosenheider, director of sales for Powell Broadcasting, was presented with the Hall of Fame award at Century Hall, preceding the royalty coronation which he was preparing to emcee. Radio station KLEM in Le Mars is a part of the Powell group...

Museum holds annual flea market on July 4th (06/30/08)
July 4th activities at the Plymouth County Historical Museum will include antiques and food this Friday. The annual Fourth of July Flea Market will be held in the "Old Central" Gym from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with area antique dealers and vendors having a wide array of items for sale...

Kidz Cabin opens (06/11/08)
A little cabin tucked on the top floor hallway of the Plymouth County Historical Museum will make its debut during Ice Cream Days. "Kidz Cabin" features a front porch, complete with clothesline and clothes pins, and a one-room living space, just the right size for children to play at being pioneers on the prairie...

Ice Cream Days' events offer treats for everyone (06/09/08)
Shine up your smiles and classic cars and get ready for Ice Cream Days. The fun starts Wednesday and concludes Saturday. Starting the adventure Wednesday, for its second year, is the Smile Contest and Ice Cream Social hosted by the Good Samaritan Society-Le Mars at 2 p.m...

Police tie two to longer string of burglaries (05/01/08)
Police are pinning 11 more burglaries on an 18-year-old already accused of being part of five other break-ins. A new suspect, a 16-year-old, was also tied to five of the burglaries after police interviews. The 18-year-old, Alexx Leo Conyers of Le Mars, faces 12 more felony charges for allegedly breaking in, stealing cash and vandalizing property. Conyers was already booked in the Plymouth County Jail...

'May Day at the Museum' gives students sense of history (04/22/08)
The calendar may still say April but more than 200 Plymouth County fourth graders celebrated "May Day" at the Plymouth County Historical Museum Monday. This year's Eighth Annual "May Day at the Museum" featured 14 learning stations at various points in the museum and the Maypole Dance in "Old Central" Gym during the lunch hour...

Former 4-H'er saddened by vandalism of fairgrounds model (04/22/08)
When Matt Giffrow, 27, visited the Plymouth County Historical Museum last Saturday, it was more like a funeral wake than a cultural experience. The Omaha resident returned to view his 4-H project, a diorama of the Plymouth County Fairgrounds he had created when he was 11. The exhibit was destroyed at the museum at approximately 2 a.m., Thursday, March 20, during a break-in...

Vandals strike museum again (03/26/08)
Fire extinguisher spray was just the beginning of the damages discovered at the Plymouth County Historical Museum this week after an unknown person or group broke in. Museum administrator Judy Bowman said staff found a trail broken lightbulbs and a few smashed artifacts on Monday and Tuesday, including a model of the Plymouth County Fairgrounds, which had been made by a student out of popsicle sticks and later donated to the museum...

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