Northfield Tops the List of Attendance of POW Bus Museum in Minnesota
Of the hundreds of stops over the past year of traveling throughout Minnesota, "Behind Barbed Wire," the traveling bus museum telling the stories of Midwest POWs in Nazi Germany, its two day stop in Northfield netted its largest attendace of the entire tour. More than 400 people came out on a cold blustery Saturday and Sunday to take-in this dynamic and powerful exhibit.
I spent a great deal of time talking and working with Michael Luick-Thrams, Executive Director of TRACES, the bus museums home organization.
Interestingly, Michael has been looking for a permanent home for a much larger and expansive museum, originally in St. Paul. At the end of our conversations Michael mentioned that he is exploring the possibility of moving to Northfield and considering the Community National Bank location on Division Street.
A special note of thanks to Ray Ozmun and all the Northfield Veterans and others who contributed thier time and energy to make this Sesquicentennial event a great success. I'd also like to tahk Lynne Young and the Northfield Library for hosting the narrated presentations and for helping fund this event. Final thanks to Goodbye Blue Monday for the much needed coffee and to Quality Bakery for the much appreciated baked goods.
Following is a summary by Michael Luick-Thrams, Executive Director of the Northfield event.
NORTHFIELD (410 Visitors): The largest venue by head count and duration, the two-day showing in Northfield was a pure joy: the visitors seemed genuinely interested in the exhibit, the weather was cool but clear/dry, the setting couldn't have been more congenial, and Northfield Historical Society director Mark Fagerwick proved to be uniquely helpful. In fact, over a tasty Indian-buffet lunch, he shared many growth-inducing tips; as a Recycled Business Person he sheparded this clueless historian towards Best Practices that will foster a better program and institution. I would be happy to work closely with creative, driven Mark in the future, as the Fates allow...
Well, that's my Final Report of this [first] MN BUS-eum Tour. Again, thank you all so much,
P.S. Please just to remind folks who missed us that the BUS will be shown on Saturday, the 18th of June, in Faribault. Also, we'll be in Western Wisconsin in May and June, too: see our website! TRACES.org
Michael Luick-Thrams, Executive Director
TRACES
110 South Ninth Street
Clear Lake, Iowa 50428
office phone 641.357.8515
cell phone 515.250.3825