Chamber Business Spotlight
By Kellen Olshefski
Staff Writer
As the Walworth County Historical Society closes in on 110 years of existence, it prepares to offer new exhibits with the potential of the fairly recently opened Heritage Hall.
According to Walworth County Historical Society President Doris Reinke, the society, originally incorporated in 1904, is planning to use the new location on South Washington Street in Elkhorn as a place for society meetings, a permanent veteran’s memorabilia display, and a place to hold traveling exhibits.
Reinke said the organization is comprised of volunteers from towns all around the county.
“We try very hard to make sure it is truly a county organization.
With the society being in existence for nearly 110 years, Reinke said the society needed the extra space to be able to share some of its exhibits with the public, especially those that didn’t relate to the Webster House’s Civil War era theme.
She said the society began to look for a center of operations where they could hold events they could invite the public to, rather than continue to hold them at banks and other places in the community.
“When this place became available, location was everything,” she said. “We thought, we’ve just got to get this one.”
With the addition of the new location, Reinke said the County Board sent out letters to various locations asking if there was a place in the county where Veterans of Foreign War and American Legion Posts could have a place to display their items.
Reinke said with veterans passing, often times their war memorabilia was being sold off at rummage sales or stowed away, rather than being saved. Seeing the need, the historical society stepped up and began work on its newest permanent exhibit.
“We thought, well, we just got this building and it would be a worthwhile thing to do,” she said.
According to Reinke, the Macy’s in Milwaukee was generous enough to donate multiple display cases during renovations the society will be using in Heritage Hall.
Reinke also noted the society has had many generous donations from numerous area benefactors including tables and chairs and even an audio-visual system to use for presentations and videos.
“It’s going to be kind of state of the art,” she said.
As for the future, Reinke said the society hopes to hold numerous exhibits, including a printing press from the Elkhorn Independent, donated by former owner Frank Eames, and a Christmas tree walk on Dec. 7 in which various area organizations will be decorating trees. Reinke said she even plans to decorate an antique tree, featuring her grandparents’ German ornaments from the late 1800s.
The permanent veteran’s exhibit is hoped to be open in time for Veteran’s Day, with an opening event yet to be determined.
For more information about the Walworth County Historical Society, visit www.walcohistory.org.
