2003 Year in Review

Morrison's Heritage Museum is Ready

On Sunday, April 27, Morrison's Heritage Museum will reopen. The former Odell Agricultural Heritage Museum has a new name, a newly-remodeled lower level, and all new exhibits.

Mayor Roger Drey will cut the ceremonial ribbon promptly at 1:00 on the front steps. Other guests will speak inside, at the north end of the museum.

State Senator Denny Jacobs, State Representative Mike Boland, and three Whiteside County Supervisors (Sue Britt, Glen Frank, and Merritt Pitcher) will attend. Jack Ottosen, Board President, will introduce these guests and make comments of his own.

Owen McCulloh, a member of the Morrison Historical Society, will read a letter from Nancy Reagan in honor of the reopening. He is a fourth-cousin of President Reagan. Portraits of the president's great-grandparents are on exhibit; they settled in Clyde Township in 1839. Their Bible is on display beside Mrs. Reagan's framed letter.

Morrison's Heritage Museum is honored to be a recipient of the traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit "America by Food." Only five Illinois towns will display this exhibit. It will be here July 18 through September 1.

Receipt of this exhibit requires the Historical Society to raise $2000, in order to receive a matching amount from the Smithsonian Institution. Community donations are gratefully accepted. These donations will fund several required community events that correlate with the exhibit.

The Morrison Historical Society is eager to show off the "new" museum! There will be refreshments, new MHS cookbooks created in honor of the Smithsonian exhibit, and all new exhibits about Morrison, "The City of Friendly Enterprise."

by Stephanie A. Vavra, Guest Columnist
April 20, 2003