Press Release:  Event Dates August 7-8, 2015

For further information contact Mary Chrastil, 260-982-0672 nmhistory@cinergymetro.net; or marygrace@hoosierlink.net

Funfest at Center for History

During Funfest, the North Manchester Center for History is open to the public with free admission on Friday, August 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday, August 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The first thing visitors will notice is the removal of the Center’s façade.  The Historical Society is currently working with architects to assess what needs to be done and how much it will cost.  Visitors can see the 1920’s brick and masonry work that will be restored to its former beauty.

Visitors who have not come to the Center for the past few months will see many new displays and upgraded former exhibits.  The Center features a new exhibit on prehistory and early settlers, including information on glaciers, mastodon bones, stone artifacts that are thousands of years old, and a sampling of animals the early settlers found here.  Also on display are 23 delightful detailed miniature wagons and their hitches that Don Bechtold has loaned to the museum.  The models include everything from circus wagons to farm vehicles, each with accurate scale model horses and liveries.   Nine are in the front windows, the rest inside.

On Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m., Wabash County Historian Ron Woodward will sign copies of his new book, Hidden History of Wabash County, Indiana.  This book follows up on Woodward’s prior popular offering, with more unusual and unique tales that are often overlooked.

Last year, the Center provided our younger visitors with a scavenger hunt; students and their families had a lot of fun completing it together.  Building on that success,  this year a different hunt has been prepared based on our new exhibits.  To challenge other visitors, an adult scavenger hunt has also been created.

During Funfest, visitors can also see the Indiana Historical Society’s travelling exhibit, Hoosiers and Their Hooch: Perspectives on Prohibition.  The exhibit will be in town for a limited time, from July 30 through August 31. The exhibit includes the early years of the temperance era, the roaring twenties, and the eventual repeal of the constitutional amendment. The exhibit also covers prohibition’s effect on the United States for years afterward.

The Center for History will present three films continuously throughout the day; The Building of the Peabody Mansion, See Yourself in the Movies 1938, and The Moving of the Thomas Marshall House.

The Thomas Marshall House will also be open to the public with free admission on Saturday, August 8 from 1 to 4 p.m.  Located on Market Street next to the public library, the Thomas Marshall House is the birthplace of former Indiana Governor and Vice President of the United States Thomas R. Marshall. The house has been restored to its original 1850s condition, with artifacts from the era furnishing its interior.  Docents will be available to provide tours and answer questions about Thomas Marshall and his family.