Our friends at the St. Clair County Genealogical Society are hosting a huge Historical and Heritage Book fair this Saturday, April 6.
It will be at St. Luke’s Parish Hall, 226 N. Church in Belleville from 10:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M.
Sixteen local historical organizations will be on hand to offer their wonderful publications for sale, including the St. Clair County Historical Society.
Click here for all of the details.
Hope to see you there!
TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE
for the
2013 St. Clair County Historical Society Fashion Promenade
“Downton Abbey Our Way.”
Dede Fahrquhar, Honorary Chairwoman and Community Arts Promoter
Date and Time
Saturday, April 13, 2013
11:00 A.M.
Place
St. Clair Country Club
100 S. 78th Street
Belleville, IL 62223
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR TICKETS:
CALL – 618/234-0600
E-MAIL – stcchs@att.net or stcchs.curator@gmail.com
As we wind down 2012 and look forward to 2013, we at the St. Clair County Historical Society would like to thank you for your interest and support.
We depend on people like you, people who care about local history, for everything we do. So, for reading our website, liking us on Facebook, attending our events and being a member, thank you. Thank you for all that you do.
We’ll be back in the new year with more features (and the return of What Is It Wednesday) and more news of all that we are up to (hint: it’s a lot).
Until then, have a wonderful start to 2013!
The Messinger Schoolhouse move last week was a fascinating and momentous occasion for the Society.
We already knew that.
What is even better is that lots of other people now know about the Messinger Schoolhouse as well.
The move was extensively covered in the media, giving more people a glimpse of this historic building and what our plans our for it.
There was a great article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday, December 9, 2012. Marlon Walker put together a great article about the schoolhouse with lovely pictures by Robert Cohen.
Patrick Clark from KPLR Channel 11/KTVI Channel 2 came out to Belleville to do a story about the schoolhouse for the evening news. It appeared on both Channel 2 and Channel 11 in the afternoon and the evening.
The Belleville News-Democrat also did a photo feature on the move of the schoolhouse. It appeared in the Sunday, December 9 newspaper (we don’t have a link for this article; the Belleville News-Democrat recently made their website a subscription-only site).
With all of this good press, many more people are interested in our little schoolhouse and (hopefully) what they can do to help us make it a place of learning once again.
Finally, we take the time to thank the House Tour Committee and the volunteer greeters who worked so hard to make this event a success. We also offer our special thanks to people and organizations who helped make the House Tour possible.
The St. Clair County Historical Society would like to thank the following for their assistance with the 19th Annual Candlelight House Tour
Candlelight House Tour Committee
Candlelight House Tour Volunteer Greeters
Special Thanks
The thanks continue now as we thank the florists who donated their time, talent and beautiful flowers to decorate the houses on the tour. We also thank the advance ticket locations who helped make getting a ticket for the tour easier than ever!
The St. Clair County Historical Society would like to thank the following local businesses for supporting the 19th Annual Candlelight House Tour
Florists
* denotes a business that was also an advance ticket location, so thanks again!
Advance Ticket Sales Locations
On December 9, 2012, the STCCHS hosted its 19th Annual Candlelight House Tour in Belleville.
This premier event in the Society’s year invites owners of historic homes to showcase their handiwork and preservation in a festive holiday setting. The weather wasn’t pleasant, but with our enchanting group of homes, the cold and damp faded into the background.
Hundreds of people attended this event and we would like to thank each and every one of them. You help sustain us through the year with your support and your interest. We appreciate it greatly.
It is also important to thank the people who helped in their own way to make this event the wonderful success that it is and will be in the future. Here, we thank the sponsors and homeowners. Look for other posts offering our thanks to all the others who helped out.
The St. Clair County Historical Society would like to thank the following people for their help and generosity during the 19th Annual Candlelight House Tour
“Help Light the Way Sponsors”
These sponsors offered their financial support to help defray the many costs of this wonderful event.
Presenting Sponsors
Barbara Kern
Ret. Judge Annette Eckert and Ret. Major General Bill Enyart
Lindenwood University – Belleville
Mike and Carol McGinnis
Margery Ogle
Russell Scott
Title Sponsors
Empire Comfort Systems, Inc.
Nell Fincke
The ROHO Group
Major Sponsors
Dan Bainter
Don and Alice Lienesch
Mathis, Marifian and Richter, Ltd.
Jay and Diane Tebbe
Jim and Marilyn Westerfield
The Houses and Homeowners
These are the people who offered to open their homes to us. Our sincerest thanks for their generosity.
Tom Haniszewski and Paula McAteer, 316 N. Oak Street
The Bergkoetter Family, 402 Abend Street
William and Sheila Stock, 612 S. Jackson Street
The Rousseau Family, 8 Woodland Court
Scott Ferguson, 14 Woodland Court
Craig and Kathy Liddy, 15 Woodland Court
Tom and Sandi Peters, 17 Woodland Court
On Saturday, December 8, 2012, a strange sight greeted passers-by along Old Collinsville Road.
That strange sight? Something else passing by, namely the Messinger Schoolhouse.
Check out the pictures below. Video is coming soon. Also, check out the post above about the media coverage for the Society and the move. Lots of people saw the schoolhouse move and got a taste of what the Society intends to do with it.
The Messinger Schoolhouse leaves the location where it has stood for 170 years or more on its way to its new home.
The Messinger Schoolhouse made its way slowly but surely down Old Collinsville Road over the course of several hours.
The Messinger Schoolhouse passes Clinton Hill Golf Course, named for John Messinger’s former estate in the area. It had gathered quite a crowd of followers in the process!
The Messinger Schoolhouse pulls into the Messinger Cemetery, the site of its new home and its rebirth as a place to teach and learn.
The ground was just too wet to complete the move, but we’ll have more pictures along with the video when this happens.
Thanks to all who came out and all who took an interest in this strange cargo on Old Collinsville Road.
Want to know what you can do to help us make the Messinger Schoolhouse live once again? Contact us.
We held a memorial ceremony to honor those who died in the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The Pearl Harbor Monument in the Messinger Cemetery served as the focal point for the rememberance.
The Second Ranger Battalion of St. Louis (a WWII living history group) provided the color guard. Dennis Nichols, Steve Stroot, Jeff Gremer and A.J. Lambrith represented the Rangers at the ceremony.
Rev. Fred Baue (U.S. Army veteran) of St. Louis gave the invocation and offered some moving remarks on the occasion. Rev. Baue’s father served on the U.S.S. Chew with George Hoffmann, for whom the monument was built in 1942. Rev. Baue was accompanied by his brother Kurt Baue (Army veteran), Dennis Maloney (Army; V.F.W. Post 3944 Overland-St. Ann, MO) and Alan Newsham (Coast Guard veteran). Messrs. Baue, Baue, Maloney and Newsham laid a wreath at the monument during the ceremony.
Pictures of the monument with the wreath appear below.
Veterans’ groups in attendance included representatives of Belleville V.F.W. Post #1739, Scott V.F.W. Post #4183 and Swansea Community American Legion Post #2007.
Will Shannon served as the Master of Ceremonies and represented the St. Clair County Historical Society at the ceremony.
Many thanks to those who attended and participated and, more importantly, those who gave their lives on the, “date which will live in infamy,” and continue to do so today.
Check out one of our new travelling displays making its first stop at the O’Fallon Public Library:
It will be there until November 28 and will eventually have a question for you to answer, a way to participate. Stay tuned for that.
This display will lead into an interesting presentation given at the O’Fallon Public Library. Here’s more information on that:
Drive out to O’Fallon this weekend, check out the display and be sure to join us on November 28th. It’ll be a fun and informative way to spend the evening!
