The Rice County Historical Society’s is Celebrating Faribault’s French Heritage. Join us for the French Fete Dinner and Dance Saturday, February 18, 2012 at the Faribault Elks Lodge. The dinner, catered by Chef Jeff LaBeau, owner of the Depot Bar & Grill, will include red beans and rice, chicken etouffee, sausage jambalaya, crayfish boil, dessert and chicory coffee. Dinner will begin at 6:00pm. There will be dance instructions for the Cajun 2-Step from 7-7:30, and the Cajun music will be provided by the New Riverside Ramblers beginning at 7:30 pm.
Please join us for this eventful evening. Tickets for this event are $30.00 for the Dinner & Dance, or $10.00 for the Dance only. If you are joining us for dinner, please reserve tickets by February 10, 2011. Tickets may be purchased at the Rice County Historical Society, 1814 NW Second Avenue, Faribault, MN 55021, the State Bank of Faribault, the Northfield Historical Society, any RCHS Board Member, or http://rchistory.org/content/rchs-online-store. The Rice County Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to discover, preserve and share the history of Rice County and the State of Minnesota. For more information, call (507) 332-2121.
Susan Garwood, Executive Director of the Rice County Historical Society will introduce researchers to a variety of online resources and many of RCHS’s primary documents and research files. If you are interested in searching for your family history, seeking information on a local business, or looking for a piece of Rice County’s past we invite you to this public program.
The program will begin on January 26 at 7:00pm. at the Rice County Historical Society Museum of History, 1814 NW Second Avenue, Faribault MN. Refreshments will be served following the program. Admission is $2.00 for non-members and FREE for members. Reservations are encouraged. Please contact the Rice County Historical Society at (507) 332-2121 with any questions.
Come Celebrate Christmas with the Rice County Historical Society! We have three Christmas events, so there is something for everyone!
Alexander Faribault House French Canadian Christmas Celebration
Join us in celebrating a traditional French Canadian style Christmas at the Alexander Faribault House (12 First Avenue NE) Friday, December 2, 4-7pm and Saturday December 3, 10am-3pm.
The house will be decorated in the French-Canadian traditions of the Faribault family heritage when they lived there in the 1850s. You will note the decorations are much simpler than ours today. There will be a special treat of French “Christ Cakes”, sugar cookies, and cider.
We invite you to visit the upstairs of the house as well and see where the family slept and the Faribault Business exhibit in the upstairs museum. Many local business are featured, includingNutting Truck and Castor, Brand Peony Farm, The Olympia, and Ochs.
This event is free and open to the public.
Children's Holiday Program at the Rice County Historical Society
Wanted: Children Grades 1st through 6th to help make old fashioned Christmas Decorations and to decorate the Rice County Historical Society Museum’s Christmas tree. Join us Saturday, December 4, 2010 10am to 12pm at the Museum, 1814 NW 2nd Avenue, Faribault MN 55021.
This program is free and open to the public. Please call 507-332-2121 to reserve a spot. Light refreshments will be served.
Volunteer and Member Christmas Party
Come to the museum for fun, food and carols on Thursday, December 8 from 7-9pm!
Roger Breckenridge will give a presentation tellingabout the beginnings of Fort Ridgely, from its very conception to the construction of the fort. Through the use of many images, the audience will be taken on a visual tour, shown and told about many landmarks and events, leading to the creation and building of Fort Ridgely.
Breckenridge grew up in Redwood Falls, just twenty miles from Fort Ridgely, so naturally began learning about the Indian reservation, Birch Coulie, the Redwood Ferry massacre of 1862 and Fort Ridgely. After serving in the military, he earned a BS in Mathematics and Science at Mankato State and taught high school science and later became a computer programmer analyst at Unisys in Eagan, Minnesota. Since his retirement, he has continued researching various things about his hometown, e.g. businessmen, townsfolk's and various places of business, Civil War Soldiers who are buried in the Redwood Falls Cemetery, and from there, began researching the history of the US-Dakota War of 1862 and of Fort Ridgely. He has given numerous talks/slide shows on hometown photos at the Redwood Falls Public library and Fort Ridgely.
The program will begin at 7:00p.m. at the Rice County Historical Society Museum of History, 1814 NW Second Avenue, Faribault MN. Refreshments will be served following the program. Admission is $2.00 for non-members and FREE for members. Reservations are encouraged. Please contact the Rice County Historical Society at (507) 332-2121 with any questions.
The Rice County Historical Society’s 2011 Fall Banquet/Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 20, in Faribault at the Elks Lodge. The banquet will begin with social hour at 5:00, dinner will be served at 6:00, there will be a brief business meeting as required by our bylaws at 7:00, followed by our keynote speaker; Gary Kindseth, Executive Vice President of Strategy at Faribault Foods.
Kindseth joined the company in 1972 and will provide insights on the growth of the company since that time. Kindseth has been very active in local government and the community since his election to the city council also in 1972. He was named Citizen of Year in 2002. Faribault Foods is a canning company and has been a proud member of the Faribault community since 1888. Kindseth will chronicle a brief history of how the company overcame fire, drought, war, and embezzlement as well as share with us his insights and perspectives on how the industry has evolved and how Faribault Foods has remained relevant in changing times.
Nerstrand Meats will cater the dinner. The menu will be: whole hog roast, Bootsie’s Homemade Cherry-Apple Sauce, beans with bacon, au gratin potatoes, coleslaw, rolls with butter, coffee, milk, and lemonade.
Please join us for an eventful evening. Tickets for this event are $15.00 for RCHS and Chapter members and $17.50 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased from any RCHS board members or at the Rice County Historical Society, located at 1814 NW 2nd Ave in Faribault. Please reserve a ticket by Friday October 14th.
The Rice County Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to discover, preserve and share the history of Rice County and the State of Minnesota. For more information, call (507) 332-2121.
Rice County Historical Society will host a special program to introduce Marty Duncan’s first novel, “Vengeance,” in the trilogy Black Powder, Gray Hope. Duncanwill review the Dakota War (Aug-Sept 1862) and describe the creation of his new novel and read from the book. The program is 2:00 pm Saturday October 8 at RCHS, on the Fairgrounds in Faribault.
Vengeance tells the story of Kelsey, an Irish girl, captured and thrown among the 260 white women who were threatened with death by Dakota Warriors. She is, in her mind, damaged goods and needs to learn how to trust men. Her rescuers include Ransom Purdy, a debonair man about town, and an agent-spy for Grant’s Army. His good friend Patrick Harant is a brave but naïve Union volunteer. Fate throws them together; the Civil War keeps them apart.
The trilogy Black Powder, Gray Hope follows the 5th Minnesota Regiment from their first battles at Fort Ridgely to the Vicksburg campaign, Nashville and Mobile Bay in 1865. The novels are available at RedLeadBookstore.com or from the author at www.omagadh.com. Marty Duncan is attending his 50th Reunion of the Faribault Class of 1961.
A book signing will follow the program. This program is free and open to the public, suggested donation $2.00. For more information please contact the Rice County Historical Society at 507-332-2121 or 1814 NW 2nd Ave, Faribault.
Jan Stevens, the Vice President of the Rice County Historical Society, will be presenting a program on “The History of Vintage Jewelry”, September 22, 2011.
Jan has a Bachelors Degree in Clothing and Home Furnishings from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, combined with a lifelong passion for ceremonial dress and textiles. She will show examples from the 19th and 20th centuries and talk about the history of costume jewelry. Chanel and Mamie Eisenhower made costume jewelry “acceptable” and fashionable. The complexity and artistry of costume jewelry from the 1940s and 1950s will charm you! If some of you wish you may bring a set or a piece or two of your own costume jewelry for Jan to talk about.
The program will begin at 7:00pm. at the Rice County Historical Society Museum of History, 1814 NW Second Avenue, Faribault MN. Refreshments will be served following the program. Admission is $2.00 for non-members and FREE for members. Reservations are encouraged. Please contact the Rice County Historical Society at (507) 332-2121 with any questions.
I just finished re-vamping the Rice County Historical Society Gift Shop! We now have all of our merchandise clearly displayed and marked with reasonable prices. We also have a clearance section, which includes VHS and cassette tapes, framed works, and decorative dolls, among other items.
In addition to the clearance rack, the front display also includes our toys. We have toys for all ages, including bow-and-arrow sets, dolls, puzzles and pencil sharpeners!
We then move over to our adult merchandise section. We have sweatshirts and t-shirts in a variety of colors, as well as gifts for everyone on your list.
Jewelry, dried flower arrangements, thimbles and the like are arranged together on a bed of lace, for your shopping pleasure.
Our pins and magnets are newly displayed together above the counter.
We have a variety of items on display, including glassware, postcards and girls' necklaces.
We also now have two stands for our childrens' books, one rack containing coloring books, the other containing children's books.
And finally, our books are now organized by subject, for your browsing pleasure.
We hope you come visit the Rice County Historical Society Gift Shop soon!
