Weekly News, June 5, 2020
Posted: June 5, 2020
No doubt about it. Everything is not all right. We all can immediately tick off a list of problems that worry us and make the world look bleak. I challenge you to look at what IS being done to make the world a better place. Below is a link to a song that will help focus those thoughts.
-- Louis Armstrong
Together Chippewa Valley
Thank You to the hundreds of community members who came together to help nonprofits in need. What an effort. In just 8 weeks, having never existed before, Together Chippewa Valley raised $181,500 for 19 nonprofits.
• Bob’s House for Dogs
• Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa Valley
• Children’s Museum of Eau Claire
• Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
• Chippewa Humane Association
• Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild
• Chippewa Valley Museum
• Eau Claire County Humane Association
• Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley
• Family Resource Center
• Fierce Freedom
• Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes
• Junior Achievement of Wisconsin
• Pablo Center at the Confluence
• Sculpture Tour Eau Claire
• The Community Table
• The Family Support Center
• United Cerebral Palsy of West Central Wisconsin
• The YMCA of the Chippewa Valley
Book Club Discussion: June 9, 6:30
The Adventures in History Book Club will meet via Zoom to discuss Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo. If you'd like to participate, now or in the future, contact Angela Allred, CVM Program Coordinator, a.allred@cvmuseum.com.
Future book discussions:
- 7/14/2020 The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough
- 8/11/2020 Founding Sisters and the 19th Amendment by Eleanor Clift
- 9/08/2020 The Grey Eagles of Chippewa Falls by John Kinville. Kinville's book talk has been rescheduled for Tuesday, September 22.
The Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850 Virtual Program: June 23, 6:30
The Sandy Lake Tragedy is a Wisconsin story, but the event and its aftermath are not very well known. Learn about this event when author and historian Colin Mustful discusses his historical novel, Resisting Removal: The Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850. The program will be presented live on June 23, 6:30 - 7:00 using Zoom Meeting.
Exhibit scene in Chippewa Valley Museum's Changing Currents exhibit that discusses the Sandy Lake Tragedy and Chief Buffalo. Photo by Olaf Lind.
Using real historical documentation, the novel tells the story of the U.S. government's efforts to remove the La Pointe Band of Ojibwe from their homes in the early 1850s. The Ojibwe, led by Chief Buffalo, persevered against removal efforts despite the death of 400 Ojibwe at Sandy Lake, Minnesota, and eventually earned new and permanent reservations within their homelands.
Books will be available for sale through the author, with proceeds being donated back to Chippewa Valley Museum.
At-Home Learning for Children
Registration is now open for Time Travelers, summer enrichment classes for students. We will be using an At-Home Learning format to best protect the health and safety of students, volunteers, guests, and staff.
 Fossilized mastodon tooth, one of the items that will be shared in the summer class “Digging Up the Past.” |
Classes offered:
- July 15: Inventor's Workshop, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
- July 22: Digging Up the Past, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
- July 29: Homesteaders, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
- August 5: Sounds of Home, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
- August 12: History Foodies, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Members & ECASD-area residents only pay material fees, nonmembers pay $8 + material fees. Register online or by contacting Karen Jacobson, k.jacobson@cvmuseum.com, 715-834-7871.
Coming Out of Quarantine
I can't say that I made anything during quarantine, or even did a puzzle. Wrote a lot, though. While it's still safer to stay at home, the world is slowly reopening. With this reopening, two Chippewa Valley Museum quarantine programs are coming to an end - Dear Diary and TP Cozies.
Dear Diary – Please send your diaries to info@cvmuseum.com with donor's name, age and email. Each submission will need to complete a collection donation form either in person when CVM opens or via email. Visit our website to learn more.
Speaking of Reopening
Virtual Fourth of July
Dear Diary – Please send your diaries to info@cvmuseum.com with donor's name, age and email. Each submission will need to complete a collection donation form either in person when CVM opens or via email. Visit our website to learn more.
TP Cozy - If you would like your TP cover on display, please drop it off at CVM between June 17th and June 30th. Chippewa Valley Museum will create a display of submitted fiber toilet paper covers made during the #SaferAtHome order. There will be a drawing for a prize winner AND a limited selection will be able to be sold via our online store if desired.
Speaking of Reopening
We moved the **tentative** reopening date back, a little, to Wednesday, June 17. We're still waiting on hand sanitizer and some Personal Protective Equipment and need to have the City-County Health Department review our plans. Health and safety procedures will be posted on our website and throughout the museum building when we do reopen.
Pretty nifty plexiglass barrier, I'd say.
In order for the Chippewa Valley Museum to reopen, Wisconsin must meet the Gating Criteria for reopening originally set out by the Badger Bounce Back plan. We feel this slow reopening is safest for visitors, staff, and community.
Please call or check our website for more information. Things continue to change, and we continue to adapt.
Please call or check our website for more information. Things continue to change, and we continue to adapt.
Virtual Fourth of July
Fourth of July at the museum, 2007. For a few years, volunteers helped to bring out the museum's 1931 Seagrave Pumper Truck.
Planning is well underway for our first ever Virtual Fourth of July celebration. The schedule and some of the activities are still in development, but here's what I know will happen:
• Mayor Barron's 4th of July proclamation, 1918, read by City Manager Dale Peters
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This event is also supported by sponsors Charter Bank, Northwestern Bank, Visit Eau Claire, and by Chippewa Valley Museum members. If you'd like to help make this happen, please make a donation to cvmuseum.com or mail a donation to Chippewa Valley Museum, PO 1204, Eau Claire, WI 54702.
Some more honesty. We are disappointed that we can't hold this event this year. I know a virtual experience cannot replace the real thing, and I know that many will not want to be looking at a screen on the Fourth of July. Activities will be available before, during, and after the 4th so that you can enjoy them when it works best for you. We continue to adapt.
Final Thoughts
Much has been written, said, and done since a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd on Memorial Day. This last week has been ugly, emotional, challenging, and at times, beautiful. If history has taught me anything, it's that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when working together. I also wholeheartedly agree with Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch's statement: "History is a guide to a better future and demonstrates that we can become a better society—but only if we collectively demand it from each other and from the institutions responsible for administering justice."
We can be better. We can do better.
Peace,
Chippewa Valley Museum Director
P.S. The National Museum of African American History and Culture just launched Talking About Race, a new online portal designed to help individuals, families, and communities talk about racism, racial identity and the way these forces shape every aspect of American culture.
Image courtesy of National Museum of African American History and Culture
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