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Historical Society seeking members  Share
We are mailing letters asking present and former members to renew Beecher Community Historical Society memberships for 2010. New people are always welcome. We are repeating the letter here: ''Dear members and former members: ''Washington Township Museum's volunteers are making plans for 2010. We are preparing for the usual annual events and will be ready to accommodate school, scout or other groups that may want to visit at a time when we are not ordinarily open. Also, we are considering some new projects. '''Drivin' the Dixie,' usually scheduled for the third weekend in June, occupies us for the early part of the year. ''As a rule, the photo exhibit Ð held concurrenty with the 'Drivin' the Dixie' event Ð is our most expensive project for the year. The 2009 show featured photos of historic Beecher buildings. Don Sala made enlarged and improved copies of photographs of houses and other buildings in the 1907 prospectus issued by the C. & E.I. railroad. He also made photos of the buildings that are still standing, so that the old and present appearances could be compared. The buildings that have been razed were labeled 'Demolished.' Thinking the pictures would be of permanent interest to Beecher citizens, we purchased matching frames for them and left them on view after the expiration date of our show. I photographed historical buildings that still stand but were not in the railroad prospectus. In some cases, I was able to find old photos of those buildings for comparison with my new ones. (Frames for my photos were loaned by Ken Bath.) ''The historical society received an Award of Merit from the Illinois Association of Museums for this show.
''A visit from the organization, Railfans, seems to be becoming an annual event for the museum. Our extensive collection of railroad books is displayed and made available to them. So far, this group has come the same day that the Lions' beef roast is held, and they take advantage of that. ''The museum volunteers want to help the Gould and Reed street merchants in their effort to draw business back to the Old Town. Our museum is open during their events and had quite a few visitors during the Parade of Lights this year. ''We are hoping that you will renew your historical society membership or rejoin us for 2010. We would appreciate your help. The depot is owned by the Village of Beecher, and we are allowed to use it, but we receive no tax money to fund our events. Membership is $10 for a single membership and $15 for families. Send to: Arnold Cooper, 296 Aspen Drive, Beecher, IL 60401.'' Since the above letter was written, the volunteers have had a discussion regarding the show for the spring. An exhibit about Beecher's churches was suggested, but shelved for a year or two because the subject is too much like the show we had this year, which included photos of the churches. Instead, we are considering an exhibit of photos of Beecher's people. We have quite a few pictures, but we will be looking for more and would like to have all families represented, those of new residents as well as the old. A cut-off date is being considered. Possibly, we may decide to show pictures made before 1920. Any photo not larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches can be scanned. We will plan to set up a day when we will have a scanner at the depot. Larger portraits would have to be photographed. More about this later. Washington Township Museum, 620 Reed St., is a project of Beecher Community Historical Society. The depot is open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until noon. There is no admission fee. Russell Publications prints several community newspapers each week, serving Will, Kankakee and Cook counties.
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