The Wright County Historical Society is throwing a party Saturday, May 3, to celebrate Minnesota’s 150th birthday. Everybody’s invited and it’s free, according to society official Sally Macnab. "A Step Back in Time," a series of historical activities, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wright County Heritage Center on Highway 25 in Buffalo. Then the Family Folk Festival will take place at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Buffalo High School, featuring Charlie Maguire and Marienne Kreitlow and Friends. "Bring your whole family for free and just come and enjoy it," historical society business manager Macnab said. "This is our way of giving back and saying come and enjoy." The Wright County Board of Commissioners asked the historical society to put on the county’s celebration, she said. The society is spending about $5,000 on it, including a $1,000 grant from the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission, about $2,000 in donations and another $2,000 of its own money. One annonymous donor contributed $800 to pay for the folk festival and eliminate admission charges. So the county’s sesquicentennial bash will be a "full day of free activities" and no tax dollars are going into it, Macnab said. Opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. will include acknowledgment of honorary committee members from across the county, including Annandale’s Ken Rudolph. Activities will begin immediately afterward and include planting heirloom seeds and documenting visitors’ stories of growing up in Wright County at oral history stations. Seed Savers of Decorah, Iowa, produces historical seeds like those planted by the people who settled the county, Macnab said. Visitors will be able to plant seeds in small containers and take them home for replanting. They include purple carrots – they weren’t orange originally – multicolored types of lettuce and Lazy Housewife, a pole bean that grows by itself without a lot of help from a grower, she said. Students at the oral history stations will ask visitors questions about where they grew up. The answers will be reviewed and some people will be invited to elaborate. The result will be a document and recording of sesquicentennial history, Macnab said. The society will be taking the opportunity to document Wright County history, she said. "That’s our job." Other activities will be butter and rope making and hand washing clothes on a crank washer. The Town Hall and rustic cabin will be open with interpreters in attendance and with information on genealogical research available in the society’s library. Weavers and spinners will share the secrets of their trade. A working steam engine will be onsite as well as many tractors and cars from the past. Maquire invites children interested in learning the mouth harp to join him at 1:30 p.m. for a lesson and small concert in the Big Tent beside the Heritage Center. A barbeque lunch of steak sandwiches and hot dogs, sponsored by No Name Steak, J & B Group, St. Michael, will be available for purchase thanks to the Buffalo Lions Club. Marienne Kreitlow and Friends , including Mary Ann Miller, Michael Miller and Kellie Strub, will open the folk festival. Following a brief intermission when juice and cookies will be available for a nominal fee, Maquire will take the stage. He is the Centennial Troubadour of the Minnesota Parks System and served as the Singing Troubadour for the National Parks for many years. Some other events celebrating Minnesota’s 150th anniversary as the 32nd state to join the Union are: – Tuesday, May 6, through Sunday, May 18, one of the only remaining original copies of the Declaration of Independence, printed July 4, 1776, will be on display at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul along with a number of Minnesota’s important founding documents. – Sunday, May 11, will be celebrated as Statehood Day with an open house at the State Capitol in St. Paul and at the Minnesota History Center as well as other activities throughout the afternoon. – From Monday, May 12, through Friday, May 16, five cities will be Minnesota’s Capital for a Day, and each will celebrate with community events. They are Bemidji, Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes, New Ulm and Winona. – Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18, will be celebrated as the Statehood Weekend Festival on the State Capital grounds with exhibits, food, entertainment and ceremonies. It will be the beginning of more than 400 events honoring the state throughout the summer.
