Open House kicks off busy holiday season at Cultural Heritage Center


Article Body

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 21, 2007
CONTACT: Jeff Mammenga, (605) 773-6000, Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us
 
Open House kicks off busy holiday season at Cultural Heritage Center
 
PIERRE, S.D. – The annual holiday open house of the South Dakota State Historical Society on Friday, Nov. 23, kicks off a festive month of activities at the Cultural Heritage Center.
 
The center opens at 9 a.m. on the 23rd, with the open house events scheduled from 1-4:30 p.m. There is free admission to the museum all day.
 
The theme of this year’s open house is “Christmas at Little House.” Members of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society of De Smet will have a display in the Education Room, and a Laura Ingalls Wilder re-enactor will read the story “Santa Comes to Little House” in the Observation Gallery at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. In addition, Ingalls Wilder society members will be handing out adult and children’s gifts as door prizes every half hour starting at 1:30.
 
Adding to the pioneer atmosphere will be Robert Hutchison of Presho, a multi-year award winner in the South Dakota Fiddle Contest. Hutchison will be entertaining at 2 and 3 p.m. in front of the sod house in the Proving Up Gallery.
 
And nearby, visitors will see Robert Travis of Pierre panning for gold, an employee of State Publishing in Pierre working an antique printing press, and Bobbins and Lace from Sioux Falls making lace.
 
There is also free holiday refreshments and, for the kids, free pictures with Santa Claus in the Changing Times Gallery.
 
Already on display in the lobby of the Cultural Heritage Center for the second year are miniature replicas of historic buildings in Pierre. This year’s eight featured buildings, a project of the Pierre Historic Preservation Commission, are the State Capitol, the American Legion Cabin, the Soldiers and Sailors Building, the Woster House, the Bjork House, the Pringle Apartments, the South Dakota Discovery Center, and the First United Methodist Church.
 
Vonnie Shields, commission president, said the group brainstormed and asked several local creative people, working off pictures of the buildings, to duplicate them.
 
“The creators could use any means to create the buildings. Many of them have used cake or cookie material to create them,” Shields said. “The purpose of the project is to promote the preservation of these historic structures.”
 
“The buildings look fantastic again this year,” said Jay D. Vogt, State Historical Society director and state historic preservation officer. “I can’t think of a better, more appealing way for the local commission to promote historic preservation.”
 
The miniature buildings will be on display through Jan. 2.
 
Starting Saturday, Nov. 24, and running through Monday, Dec. 24, the Cultural Heritage Center will be open extended hours to accommodate holiday visitors. Museum hours will be 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. on Sundays.
 
Special events are also planned from 1-4:30 p.m. the first three Sundays in December.
 
Dec. 2 – Lakota artist Donald F. Montileaux of Rapid City, illustrator of the award winning Tatanka and the Lakota People, will be present for a book signing and art show and sale. An exhibit of American Indian artifacts recently donated to the State Historical society by the Schoessler Family will be on display. Pierre stamp collector Marvin Paulson will display his hobby both Saturday and Sunday.
 
Dec. 9 –There will be a book signing and recipe tasting event featuring the South Dakota Governors Residence Cookbook – A Culinary Legacy Celebrating the First Families of South Dakota, recently released by the South Dakota Heritage Fund. The cookbook is a collection of more than 600 recipes from 31 South Dakota Governors’ First Families, and current and former Governors’ cabinet and staff. The book can be purchased in the Heritage Store of the Cultural Heritage Center.
 
Dec. 16 – Six “Made in South Dakota” exhibitors will be on hand for a “trunk showing” featuring jewelry, pottery, purses, candles, stained glass and Christmas cookies.
 
Call (605) 773-6000 for more information.
 
-30-
 
The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Tourism and State Development and strives to help the state meet the goals of the 2010 Initiative by enhancing history as a tool for economic development and cultural tourism. The society is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit www.sdhistory.org for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.