FRIENDS’ “30th Star Benefit Antiques Auction” coming up April 26, 2014, gets a Helping Hand from the Wisconsin

Antiques Dealers Association as event sponsors ~ AGAIN!

Wisconsin Antiques Dealers Association is the oldest, continually-functioning state antiques organization in America, and now are active with 48 of the top antiques professionals in the area.

Funded by admissions charged at their February & October antiques shows, the Wisconsin Antiques Dealers Association has been able to provide grants for Wisconsin preservation endeavors and scholarships for college-bound Wisconsin students.

This autumn with a grant provided by W.A.D.A., FRIENDS was able to restore an important oil painting at Wisconsin Historical Society’s newest Historic Site, the Black Point Estate, on Lake Geneva, also the site that the FRIENDS’ “30th Star Benefit Antiques Auction” will benefit in 2014.

FWHS is also grateful for a booth at WADA’s show, October 4 & 5 in Waukesha to promote the FWHA 2014 benefit Auction.

For a list of dealers, scholarship recipients, and Antique Show dates, go to: www.WisconsinAntiquesDealers.com.

Too soon we lost our Rose to Heaven.

Too soon we miss her smile ~

 

And her ideas and her energy

That took us through every trial.

 

Not afraid to speak her mind

And keep us on the right trail,

 

That blooming Rose is in our hearts

As she has always been ~

 

There is no one to take her place ~

We know that without fail.

 

A FRIEND of ours forever…

Until we meet again.

 

FWHS Board Member Rose Ellen Sterk ~ laid to rest November 12, 2013

The 2013 Fall Three-Day Excursion was centered on Wisconsin in the Civil War.

Mysteries were unraveled along the way. Like how did Confederate Soldiers end up in a Wisconsin Cemetery? How did Runaway Slaves enter and leave the state safely? What part did our state play in the Civil War? What was life like during that time?

Some of these questions were answered personally for the FWHS travelers by people deeply involved in the war like: President Lincoln (Fritz Klein), General Grant (Frank Beaman), and Wisconsin’s First Lady Cordelia Harvey (Mary Kabakik.)

At one of the dinners, Costume Designer, Bev Wassam, along with volunteers (including some of our FWHS Board members) put on an 1860’s Fashion Show.

As our Excursionists were visiting Wade House and our Union Camps, a skirmish broke out as the Confederate artillery opened fire. A rousing cavalry battle repelled the Rebel advance, but the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga had begun.

Later that afternoon, the battle began in earnest with an artillery duel between the Union and Rebel artillery pieces. Cannons blasted away at each other. A sudden infantry attack by a large army of Confederates from the woods lead to the death of all our Wisconsin Artillery Unit.

The cannon from the Wisconsin artillery unit was captured and all members of the ordinance crew were killed.  Charge after charge by the Rebels was repulsed, but eventually the Confederacy carried the day and drove the Boys in Blue from the field.

The Southern army had won the battle and stopped the Union campaign from moving into Georgia, and the Union, with the help of our staunchly brave soldiers from the Wisconsin Iron Brigade, would have a hard time ahead of them to defeat the South.

 

 

 

Autumn Excursion:

Did you miss the deadline? If You Hurry You Can Still Get In!

There is still a small window of opportunity to join the FRIENDS on this year’s Annual Excursion.

The adventure into “Hands On” History this year is Wisconsin’s connections to the Civil War.

It’s a Three Day Tour with all meals included.

Questions? Call Chuck Hatfield 608-625-4042.

Brochure and Registration Form (click here)

 

 

30th Star Benefit Antique Auction: 

Got Junque? Get a Tax Break!

FWHS is seeking Vintage and Antique Items for their 2014 Benefit Auction.

Pass your story along through the donation of these items and get your tax deduction too!

To offer an item, call Riene Wells 262-363-2225.

 

 

Columbus Carriage Festival:

Bands, Balls, Contests, and Tons of Fun!

FRIENDS brought the First Brigade Band to the Columbus Wisconsin Carriage Festival in June.

The Festival this year had a Civil War theme and carriage driving competitions in true antique style!

Our booth had contests running for the two days and Skylar and Wyatt Nelson won the prizes for the Kid’s Competition and David Triebold and Earl Busse won the Adult Challenge. Congratulations!!!!

The Brigade Band also played at the Civil War Ball at the end of the festivities.

And a grand time was had by all!

 

Annual Meeting:

FWHS See What THEY DID !

In June all were invited to join the Board at Old World Wisconsin to witness for themselves how we are helping to bring St. Peter’s Church – the first church in Milwaukee – back to its original period and purpose.

Guests Ma & Pa also showed us how to build a log cabin by hand after we were also finished helping with some farm chores at the German Farms.

Next we road The East Troy Electric Rail Road (yes – electric! One of the last remaining originals) and danced to the juke box as we gobbled down old fashioned sundaes at Lauber’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor – filled with memories of the past!

And a great tine was had by all!

 

Here are some of the highlights for the 15th & 16th:

 

Saturday, June 15th

 

• 10am & 2pm: General Grant and his wife, Julia, speak about their lives at the Friends of the State Historical Society booth

   

  Noon:  President Lincoln, General Grant and Governor Lewis arrive by horse drawn carriage at the arena

   

  

  3:00 p.m.: 1^st Brigade Band plays at the encampment. Picture opportunity with President Lincoln, General Grant and the soldiers at the encampment.

   

  5pm: parade

   

  8:00-11:00 p.m. Dance to the music of the 1^st Brigade Band – Ticket price: $10/person

   
   
   

  Sunday, June 16th:

   

  Noon: President Lincoln and General Grant visit encampment.

   

  1p.m: Civil War Fashion Show

   

  Tell us in the comment section what you are looking forward to the most!

   

  Complete schedule of event here

   

Thirty-two FRIENDS members and guests boarded a Lamers motorcoach in September, and invested three days in a sweeping study of Wisconsin’s Indian Nations, the prehistoric lands of the Moundbuilders and the Woodland people, and the present-day reservations of the Ho Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe and Sauk. The Autumn Excursion, the FRIENDS’ signature event, enjoyed favorable weather, great fall colors along the roadside, good food, pleasant accommodations, and the congeniality of like-minded travelers. Most importantly, however, the FRIENDS group heard excellent speakers, guides and interpreters, who made the tour an adventure in adult learning.

The 2012 Excursion followed a route that took travelers, first, to the Hoard Museum in Fort Atkinson, where we got details of the Black Hawk War of 1832, a skirmish in which Abraham Lincoln soldiered against the Fox and Sauk warriors.

We visited the Koshkonong Mounds, eleven earthen structures along an ancient trail, then moved on to Aztalan State Park, where the early Middle Mississippi culture built a complex, well-organized city made up of earthen platforms, stockade walls, communal housing, a sports arena and fields in which the first real agriculture was practiced. At the Man Mound, near Baraboo, the curator portrayed William H. Canfield, who first surveyed the state’s only man-shaped effigy mound in 1859.

Our Monday night lodging was the Wisconsin Dells Ho Chunk Casino, but our after-dinner program was so compelling that few of our tourists went gaming.  In the morning, we drove to the photographic studio of H.H. Bennett, whose landscapes and native portraits made the Dells famous. The building in the old downtown area is now one of the historic sites of the state historical society.

Headed north, we enjoyed lunch in Stevens Point, followed by an instructive stop at the Menominee Indian Cultural Museum in Keshena. Our guide described the creation of the five clans, who at one time occupied ten million acres of land in what is now Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. On their reservation, the Menominee’s forestry practices were held up as models for modern forest preservation.

Pushing on to the lakeside resort, Minoqua, we filled the classic Norwood Pines Supper Club with lively conversation, and began our encounter with the Ojibwe, the Lac de Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The guided tour of a recreated native village was inspiring, and the George W. Brown Cultural Center and Museum offered top-notch exhibits and informed commentary  on Ojibwe beliefs and traditions, and the tribe’s historic struggles to survive in times of economic and political turmoil.

This three day Excursion earned rave reviews from the participants, as have all of our recent September tours.  Board Members Chuck Hatfield and Penny Kleinhans have carefully coordinated the events and destinations to bring travelers  a blend of historic enlightenment and pleasant companionship.

Marking our fourth year as invited participants in Sharon’s “Model A Days” celebration, FRIENDS opened an informative exhibit focused on the life and times of Henry Ford, founder of the company that bears his name and the man credited with revolutionizing the auto industry with the perfecting of the assembly line.

June 3rd was a picture perfect day, and the streets of Sharon were crowded. “Model A Days” draws car collectors and hobbyists from all over the Midwest. The event in small-town vintage Sharon is in its 17th year.

FRIENDS volunteers distributed a four-page newspaper, the Sharon Tabloid, which described Ford’s dramatic career and his impact on society through his production standards and generous pay scale.

Using large historic photographs and well-researched display materials, the FWHS exhibit attracted passersby on Sharon’s busy Baldwin Street, where more than 200 vintage automobiles and other vehicles lined the curb. FRIENDS also conducted a “Ford Quiz,” featuring ten difficult questions about the Models T and A from the Ford company. The participants who answered the quiz correctly were entered in a drawing for a scale model 1932 Ford convertible.

The winning entry was that of Bob Davisson, of Milwaukee, who drove his ’31 Ford coupe to the event. Bob retired after thirty-six years with Bell Telephone, and served five years on the Board of the Wisconsin chapter of the Model A Club of America.

The exhibit and the newspaper satisfy the educational objectives of the FRIENDS organization, an ongoing effort to blend entertainment and enlightenment to foster the understanding and sharing of history.

In previous years, FRIENDS has staged historic reenactments accompanied by solid information on topics of interest to car collectors and history buffs who study the 1920s and 1930s. FWHS led off with an ambitious rendering of The Great Depression, and followed with a March for Women’s Rights and the destruction of a whiskey still as part of our portrayal of Prohibition.

The FWHS “30th Star Benefit Antiques Auction” brought a sizable crowd to the Clausing Barn at Old World Wisconsin and, when the bidding was done, the April 28th volunteer event had amassed a fund that will be put to good use just a short distance from the barn, at the historic site’s St. Peter’s Church in the Crossroads Village. The relocated structure, a small and simple 1839 Greek Revival frame building, was Milwaukee’s first Catholic Cathedral, drawing its worshippers from the city’s large immigrant population.

In February, the Board of Directors of FRIENDS voted to pledge the auction’s total proceeds to an ongoing program designed to carefully restore the interior furnishings of the church.

The Board’s action, in effect a promise to “complete the project,”fulfills the FRIENDS mission by directing fundraising efforts to the benefit of the state historical society’s programs and projects.

A Preview Party opened the auction, as patrons got a peek at the items up for bid the next day. The prolific rural historian and author Jerry Apps, along with his photographer son, Steve, headlined the dinner event, discussing “Barns of Wisconsin” and celebrating the state’s farm heritage.

Auctioneer Carol Miller, of Bailey’s Honor Auction Service of Oconomowoc, picked up her gavel the following morning to begin the auction of hundreds of antique and vintage treasures. The bidding moved along at a brisk pace, and because the sale was a “no-reserve” auction, carried on without phone or Internet bidding, patrons relished an “old-time auction” atmosphere.

The biennial event enjoys the generous support of our founding co-sponsors, the Wisconsin Antiques Dealers Association.

Funds from the successful 2010 auction have been used to create awards for National History Day, restore two historic portraits, and support selected Society events. Last year, FRIENDS made a gift of $10,000 to aid in the expansion of the new Historic Preservation Initiative, a component of the WHS website.