By KRISTEN PARROT | Vernon County Museum curator
This week, April 17-23, is National Volunteer Week. The Vernon County Historical Society is powered by volunteers, and we thank all of them for their efforts to preserve and promote our county’s history. History matters to contemporary life, and our volunteers make it possible for Vernon County history to be shared with others.
From the volunteers who keep the lights on and the floors clean to the volunteers who give museum tours and history programs, all of the Vernon County Historical Society’s volunteers help strengthen our community by making our history more accessible. We are especially grateful for all of the volunteer help that we’ve received during the past two pandemic years. Thank you, volunteers!
This week is also Earth Week, culminating in Earth Day on April 22. Wisconsin’s own U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson helped to establish the first Earth Day in 1970. That first Earth Day inspired the Clean Water Act, passed by the U.S. Congress two years later, in 1972. The Clean Water Act is intended to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”
You can learn much more about water at the upcoming exhibit, “Great Lakes Small Streams: How Water Shapes Wisconsin.” This travelling exhibit from the Wisconsin Historical Society will be at the Vernon County Museum from Monday, May 2, through Friday, May 27. It will be set up in the museum’s first-floor, wheelchair-accessible conference room, and will be available during the museum’s regular public hours of Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment.
The exhibit touches on fishing, erosion, drinking fountains, wild rice, and shipping, among many other ideas. We’ll supplement the travelling exhibit with objects from our own collection, including a water cooler from the Sag City School and a 1962 map of “flood-control proposed improvements” to the Kickapoo River basin.
The opening of this special exhibit will be celebrated with a party at the museum on Tuesday, May 3, beginning at 7 p.m. Food and drink will be served, and all of the exhibit halls will be open, including the new water exhibit. Be sure to take advantage of these special hours to tour the museum.