And summer is here
The lilacs near the old schoolhouse are starting to bloom. The buildings at the Historical Village are ready for summer visitors. The new picnic tables (thank you to the Tobacco Valley Community Foundation) are waiting, ready for your family and friends. And the museum opens on Saturday, May 29 at 1:00pm. It will be open for the remainder of the summer, seven days a week from 1:00pm – 5:00pm. There will be volunteer docents on hand everyday to answer your questions and provide information.
The wonderful Montana PBS “Backroads of Montana” episode that features the Historical Village and our quilters is available to watch either on the MTPBS website or at this link. Thanks to Ray Ekness who did a great job capturing the spirit of the Historical Village and the efforts of the quilters. We very much appreciate being part of the “Backroads of Montana” series, and hope it will inspire new people to join us to quilt this fall.
And a reminder that besides the museum which is open daily, there are also special events happening at the Historical Village this summer. The Eureka Montana Quilt Show is scheduled for August 7th. This is a great event to enjoy throughout the entire downtown. If you want to help, show up that morning around 7:00am to help hang quilts. Or come later in the day to amble along the main street and through the Historical Village to admire hundreds of amazing quilts. For more information, visit the Eureka Montana Quilt Show site.
On Thursday, August 19th, Sunburst Arts and Education brings Montana Shakespeare in the Parks to the Historical Village for this year’s performance of “Cymbeline“. Free admission although donations are always appreciated. Box dinners will be on sale at the Historical Village starting at 5pm. The play begins at 6pm. This event is always a highlight of the summer, creating a bit of theatrical magic in our town.
Moving through February
It might seem like a middle-of-winter and not much is happening time but that is not true at all when it comes to the Historical Village. Despite the very cold temperatures we’ve been having lately in the Tobacco Valley, the women continue to meet every Friday to quilt from 10:00am – 3:00pm. And yes, if you want to join us either as an experienced quilter or as a novice, you are certainly welcome. It has been an interesting season for the quilts we worked on – four tied ones for the staff at Eureka Healthcare, a lovely burgundy and green one Sally pieced which sold to a woman in New York, two art quilts Rita put together for a project on the pandemic, and a beautiful one made with vintage fabrics Kathy Ingram brought in to have quilted.
Besides Friday quilting, members are also constantly adding things to our online store. We decided to keep it open at least until summer so if you are in the market for a baby quilt, books about the Tobacco Valley, bright potholders or scrubbies, hand embroidered tea towels or pillow cases, or even large quilts (either tied or hand stitched), check out our store online. Just go to the Tobacco Valley Board of History website.
And despite the cold temps and gray skies, we are thinking of Spring when more people begin passing through the Historical Village. Thanks to partial support from the Tobacco Valley Community Foundation, we purchased two new picnic tables that will be ready to replace a couple that have seen better days. And now volunteers are working to get storm windows for the old school house building. These will make it so much easier to keep the building warm next winter when the women are quilting. Special thanks to the EMQS Foundation for facilitating that project. And we have an awesome team of new volunteers who will help repair the ceiling in the old church, repair windows in the Baney House, and offered to help repair the boardwalk. Thanks to all of you who stepped up to keep the Historical Village in great shape. In May, it seems the quilters will be featured in a Backroads of Montana episode! This is a wonderful program on Montana PBS. We will certainly get the word out when we know the date and time.
If you want to be part of keeping our community’s heritage alive, don’t hesitate to attend our next board meeting on March 5 at 10:00am in the old school house. We can always use help with a wide range of tasks from social media, to archives, to fundraising.
First Saturday in August
The first Saturday in August is always lovely in Eureka as hundreds of quilts grace downtown including the Historical Village and Memorial Park. Quilts are hung on buildings on both sides of the main street as well as on every possible surface (and then some) at the Historical Village. Over six hundred quilts will be on display this year.
Besides making sure the Historical Village grounds are in tip-top shape for this Saturday’s event, the Village volunteers will also work to have the museum open and to sell raffle tickets. There is the annual quilt raffle for one of the lovely quilts we made last winter. The drawing for that will be on August 26th at the L
incoln County Fair although raffle tickets can be purchased at the museum anytime between now and the fair. A very special quilt made from small pieces of silk back in the early 1900s will be raffled this Saturday. The Victorian era quilt will be on display at the Village museum all day Saturday and the winning ticket drawn at 4:00pm. Take time on Saturday to stop by the Historical Village museum (Fewkes Store) to see both the Victorian quilt and our other raffle quilt. All proceeds from both raffles go to maintain the Historical Village.
And very special thanks to the Eureka Montana Quilt Show Foundation for their generous gift which helped to cover the expense for renovating the old caboose. Donations from Town Pump and the Tobacco Valley Community Foundation were also received this summer and greatly appreciated. As always, summer is a challenging time with grounds maintenance as well as repairs to roofs and out buildings at the Historical Village. Donations from community members and local businesses and organizations help the Tobacco Valley Board of History continue to provide a pleasant setting for the public and archives of our valley’s history.
Coming into fall
The quilters drew the lucky raffle winner at the Lincoln County Fair on August 27th. A Canadian woman won the beautifully pieced quilt and will pick it up this week. Thanks to all of you who bought raffle tickets. It is one of the many ways we work to pay the bills to maintain the Historical Village. Also at the end of August, the Historical Village was awarded a grant from the Tobacco Valley Community Foundation. What a wonderful gift 
to help us cover the expenses we incurred this past summer including chinking one of the old cabins and painting a building. And on September 9, the quilters will have their annual Fall Rummage Sale at the old school house from 10:00am – 3:00pm. Some great treasures and, of course, all proceeds go towards the Historical Village. Stop by to purchase something you need and/or to talk with the women. The following Friday, September 15, the quilting season officially starts for the year. It is open to anyone who has time on Fridays. Even if you haven’t sewn before, we are happy to show you how. Many of us started out as true beginners and are now addicted to showing up every Friday to stitch. Bring a bag lunch and drop by anytime between 10:00am – 3:00pm. We will even supply you with a needle and scissors to begin this new passion.
Perhaps you are seriously considering coming by on a Friday to quilt with us – or to learn how to quilt. You study the photos that are part of this blog and notice how agreeable the women look who are sewing. But then the balloons on the quilt catch your eye and you wonder what they are used for. Has there been a recent birthday party? Are the quilters prepared to fill them with water to deter anyone from littering on the Historical Village grounds? No, the balloons are actually used for quilting. Sometimes it is difficult to pull a needle through multiple layers of fabric and batting. When it becomes a challenge, a balloon placed around the needle gives the quilter that extra leverage to pull the needle through.
Tobacco Valley History blog 