Upcoming Program: New Displays Open House

This next Sunday (May 18^th) the Lac qui Parle Historical Society is proud to officially open our two new exhibits covering two important pieces of history from Lac qui Parle County. The main exhibit is focused on the many businesses of the county that handle and sell the agriculture products that are produced by the area’s farmers. This includes the more than twenty-seven grain elevators, ten creameries, and multiple mills that have populated Lac qui Parle County. The display will feature information on all of the elevators, mills, and creameries in the county along with photographs and artifacts related to the businesses.

            The museum will also be opening our new display based around the Piechowski Fishing Company which used seine fishing techniques to haul millions of pounds of fish from nearby lakes for more than 80 years. The Piechowski men typically did their fishing in the winter, spending multiple days on the ice chiseling holes, sending out nets, hauling in fish, and shipping them out to plants and fisheries in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Nebraska. On one occasion in 1960 the Piechowski’s hauled in more than 1 Million lbs. of fish in a single haul! The display will feature tools, photographs, and other information related to the fishing company.

            The program will begin at 2:00 PM on Sunday with a talk from Lynn Zimmerman who will share some stories on his time working at the Cargill Elevator in Madison. The museum will open an hour before the program at 1:00 to give visitors some time to explore the new displays. A light lunch will be served after the program.