Our 2015 Annual Meeting will be the kickoff event for our 40th anniversary. This year’s annual meeting will be on March 28 at the Grand Event Center in historic downtown Northfield. The keynote speaker will be the Executive Director of the Winona County Historical Society Mark Peterson. Mark was born and raised in Mankato and graduated from Mankato State with degrees in History and Geography. He earned an M.A. in History from Portland (OR) State University. He was the Museum Director for 4 years at the Aurora Colony Historical Society, Aurora, Oregon before moving to Winona 32 years ago for the Executive Director job at the Winona County Historical Society. Peterson has served as mayor of Winona for the past two years.
In addition to Mark, Susan Garwood of the Rice County Historical Society will speak on her time at NHS and how she has seen the organization grow over the past 25 years. Sue grew up in the Twin Cities and received her BA in American Studies with a Heritage Preservation Emphasis from St. Cloud State University. With a passion for local history and interest in people’s stories, she began her career at the Northfield Historical Society as their Interim Director in 1988. Within the next 18 months she would go from Interim Director to Assistant Director, and the Executive Director in 1990. In 2000 she accepted a 3-year temporary position as the Archives Manager at Carleton College and in 2003 she became the Executive Director of the Rice County Historical Society. In 2013 she completed her MLIS (Masters in Information and Library Science) with an Archives Concentration from University of Wisconsin. She considers herself fortunate to have spent the last 26 years as a student of Rice County’s rich history.
We are also honoring longtime NHS member and volunteer Bob Phelps, for not only his dedication but his late wife, Thora’s work at NHS.
There will be a cash bar and light hors d’oeuveres.
Doors Open at 6:00 with the Annual Meeting starting at 7:00 p.m.