Hand-made Models
Donated for Museum's Anniversary Celebration
By Jessica Miller Courier Staff Writer
Morrison, IA
Models of the Little Brown Church, the
Morrison Depot, a Holland Boarding House and an old covered bridge will be in the Grundy
Center Museum collection by the open house Sunday.
Carl Dingel, 85, of Morrison has offered a number of model buildings to the museum. Seven
of those will be on display when people file in for the 22nd open house and anniversary of
the Grundy County Museum.
Dingel and his wife built each of the models, about 3 feet by 4 feet, by hand using wood,
buttons and beads. Dingel said he can't remember which one was first.
"I sat in a chair and thought about it and I knew what I would make," Dingel
said.
Work on The Little Brown Church was a little more complicated. He mapped out the project
on paper and put it in his overalls. His wife washed them and he had to start all over
again. While The Little Brown Church in Nashua may not have a picture of Christopher
Columbus and Abraham Lincoln on their walls, as Dingel's model does, it appears the way it
did when Dingel was married there.
The striking thing about the displays, said Kevin Williams, the manager of the museum and
Grundy County conservation officer, is that each of the rooms are different. In a replica
of the Holland boarding house, the hand-carved furniture is different in every room but
still representative of items used at the turn of the century.
Visitors will find the displays in the meeting room, but the entire museum complex will be
open Sunday.
Conservation officers have arranged Agriculture Hall in the Heritage Center so people
envision the $150,000 exhibit the conservation board plans to build there.
The "From Grasslands to Granaries the story of Grundy County" display will
include a prairie diorama a Native American wickiup, a walking plow and other early
pioneer artifacts.
"The focal part of the exhibit is a 1900s house and barn," said Williams. The
house and barn will become a display area for items that the museum already has in its
museum collection.
Williams has submitted a $25,000 grant application to the McElroy Trust to fund the
construction. Word will be received on the grant in May.
The grassland display will begin to the right of the house and barn, beginning with a 3-D
diorama of a prairie found in Grundy Center.
Williams said he will use real prairie grass and flowers. The flowers alone cost $30,000.
The grasses will be centered around the head of elk and buffalo, which are already in the
museum, but in the new exhibit the animals would be in a more natural setting.
Williams said they would change the display throughout the year featuring the seasons of
the prairie.
A Native American wickiup made of grass and reeds will be nearby.
"Native Americans were the first farmers," Williams said. That is why the grass
hut will be included in the display.
Then the display will move toward the settlement days, featuring first the plowed ground,
then fields of corn and a husking wagon. Next an audio-visual display will hopefully
provide footage of the 1931 the National Corn Husking Contest, held in Grundy County.
Williams said they are still searching for the contest footage.
Williams said every year the open house is the kick-off for the museum's busy season. the
museum's 22nd anniversary open house will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The museum and heritage center is open year round from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday. The Heritage Center, where the conservation board offices are also
located are always open, the other buildings on the museum grounds are open when needed.
Personal note:
In the background of the picture above I noticed the two beveled picture frames. I
personally saved one of my ancestors from being lost forever. The frame had some measly
sea shells glued upon some green felt...or so we thought. Upon arguing with a family
member that the keeping of the frame within the family was more important than how much
the frame would bring at an auction....
I won the battle
because of my intense interest in heritage...I uncovered the most valuable of lessons. My
intent was to put a family picture in the frame, and upon starting the project I found a
picture of a man whom I later found to be my grandfather! It is now sealed with the
information as to whom the photo is along with the family picture which was going to be
put in it. So the next time someone wants to get a monetary value from the frame...they
can trace it's origin
ŠIAGenWeb Project 2002, 2003, 2004
