President's Message

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Dear Friends and Members of WAHS,

2024 is going to be an exciting year for WAHS! We are celebrating 35 years of WAHS; our newsletter, History Keepers, has been published for 30 years; we have been announcing our Grandparent of the Year Award since 1999; and, Sweet Rides & Sweet Pies is 9 years old! With these events and all the others we have planned, we are sure to have something you enjoy! 

The 2024 Syttende Mai week was very busy! This year, we partnered with Country Coon Prairie Church Preservation, Inc. for a very special program. David Engen, from Minneapolis, shared his experience as a contestant and winner of the 2016 Norwegian television show  Alt for Norge in a very entertaining presentation at the historic Country Coon Prairie Church. We were very happy to see such a large crowd! As always, our Syttende Mai activities included presentations at the Westby Elementary School and the Coon Valley Elementary School. Grandmother of the Year, Kathy Volden, had a busy week. The Thoreson House Museum and Genealogy Center was open on Syttende Mai Saturday morning, and we sold lefse/pølse at our usual corner on Saturday and Sunday. It was a successful week for WAHS!

Our 9th Annual Sweet Rides & Sweet Pies happened on Saturday, July 27th. Things were a bit different this year because of the WI DOT construction project in downtown Westby. We made arrangements with the City of Westby to have Sweet Rides at the Westby Business Park just north of the city on Hwy 27. With some extra planning, volunteers, and patience on our part, we are sure everyone enjoyed the event as much as in previous years.  Put Saturday, July 26, 2025 on your calendar now because we already planning for our 10th Annual Sweet Rides & Sweet Pies. It's going to be our best and biggest event yet!

We will continue our summer Party on the Porch the second Tuesday of the month in June, July and August. Summer Open House hours this year will be on SUNDAYs in June through August from 11 am - 2 pm. We will continue our Cemetery Stone Cleaning Workshops in the Spring and the Fall, and we have already been asked to host two Norwegian tour groups. "Season 35" of WAHS will be busy so please check our Facebook page often for news and updates!  

Thank you for your continued support of the Westby Area Historical Society during all these wonderful 2024 events. If you would like a tour of the museum or need help with your genealogy research, please contact us. We have so much to offer to our friends and members! 2024 will be a wonderful year of many milestones for WAHS and we hope you can join us for our meetings and activities!

Blaine Hedberg

WAHS President