Hollydazzle Historic Tour a Great Success

To the Franklin County Community,

The Old Stone House and Harriman Nielsen Historic Farm would like to take this moment to thank the many supporters and visitors during the Historic Tour of Homes during Hollydazzle Week.

The business community, Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Board and non-profit organizations outdid themselves this year for the Hollydazzle weekend. There was a lighted parade, many Santa sightings, lots of opportunities to shop local, caroling, tuba playing, free movies, clowns and Grinches and Historical Homes to visit.

The community got a chance to visit the Blum Boehmler home that was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and still stands today in all its beautiful simplicity. They toured the Harriman Nielsen Historic Farm and drank glug while being told the stories of the early Danish immigrants to Franklin County. West of town visitors were delighted by the many Christmas trees in the Sears Roebuck home better known as the Country Heritage Bed and Breakfast. The Old Stone House built in 1854 by one of the first settlers of the county was seen and enjoyed as the oldest and coldest Christmas in Franklin County. Finally, Townsend Winery enthralled visitors with good wine, great stories and a chance to leave with local Franklin County wines.

It was our goal to raise a few dollars for special projects at The Old Stone House and Harriman Nielsen Historic Farm. That goal was accomplished. We also got the opportunity to show our citizens why we are so proud of Franklin County – our history is here! The Franklin County Historical Society is looking forward to 2010 and welcomes everyone to become involved in your history. Our stories tell where we’ve been and help guide us to where we want to go.

Special thanks must be given to several people and organizations. ABCM supplied the buses to visit the homes – at no charge. We were able to offer a safe ride with plenty of conversation and enjoyment to the visitors. Doreen Petersen, Mary Marquardt, and Keri Holmes gave remarkable tours of the Harriman Nielsen and Old Stone House sites. Joyce Blum opened up her home to the public and supplied remarkable friends and family to take us through the house. They all went above and beyond our expectations. Donnis Borcherding, her niece Lacey and husband Dave took us graciously into their home and made us all want to stay the night. The local banks and specialty shops sold tickets and spread the word of the event. Franklin County Tourism gave us a special grant to make the advertising and planning of this event all possible.

Thank you Franklin County – we’re proud to live here!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

and the little children shall lead them...

19 kids from age 3 to 15, 6 adults and apple peels, chains, popcorn strings, cranberries on a thread ............just what you need to decorate a tree for the Old Stone House.

Geneva United Methodist Church has a Sunday School with 23 children that attend regularly. That is exciting news for a small town! Even more exciting, they volunteered to make the decorations and then decorate the trees for Christmas at the Old Stone House.

We told stories of what living in the house in the 1850's would have been like. They probably spent the first winter living in the basement. It's got a dirt floor, low ceiling and is cold. The kids have homes with finished basements and just imagining what that winter would have been like in the Old Stone House made them grateful for what they have.

We explained why the bed had ropes in it. Mattresses were material covers stuffed with straw, hay, feathers, whatever they could find and placed on top of the ropes that were woven into the bed frame. They may have changed the bedding only once or twice a year - and it probably had bugs in it. Then the ropes were tightened so the bed would not sag. The old saying "sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite" really meant something!

Our Historical Tour of Homes is this coming weekend, and we feel honored to have our local children involved in the process. Thank you Geneva!