Saturday, September 26, 2014, 7-9PM
Michigan In Music Fundraiser
at the Mills Community House
The Benzie Area Historical Society is putting on a show! Nancy Reed will direct Michigan in Music,
presenting songs about Michigan and the Benzie Area. Rosemary Abbett will be the accompanist,
Dinah Haag will be the assistant director and Andy Mollema will narrate. The show includes well
known songs, and some less well known, including I got a Gal in Kalamazoo, Sweetheart of Sigma
Chi, Lovely Agnes, Crystal Lake Waltz, and Crylstal Lake Polka. There will be wine, light hors
d'oeuvres, and desserts. Tickets are $35 a person and are available by contacting a Benzie Area
Historical Society board member, or calling the museum at 231-882-5539, or emailing
info@benziemuseum.org.
Thursday, October 8th, 4PM
Benzonia Academy Lecture Series at the Benzie Area Historical Museum
The Armenian Genocide of 1915
by Prof. Brian McCall
In the spring of 1915, what has been referred to as the first genocide of the 20th century occurred in the
closing years of the Ottoman Empire. Beginning in April and lasting until after WWI, up to 1.8 million
Armenians were killed as a matter of governmental policy. Still controversial today, Brian McCall
examines the facts surrounding this dark time in modern history. Brian D. McCall has been a member
of the Interlochen Arts Academy faculty since 1998. He also serves as an adjunct American History
instructor at Northwestern Michigan College and Michigan History at Ferris State University.
Friday, October 16th 4:30-6:30PM
Mystery at the Museum
at the Benzie Area Historical Museum
Tickets $20/person
Come and join in the fun-filled evening of mystery solving and enjoy the wine, punch, coffee and
delicious appetizers and desserts. Strolling singers and guests in costumes will add to the fun. Prizes
will be given to those who solve all of the Mysteries. Docents will be wandering throughout the
museum to add to your pleasure and answer any questions you may have. Tickets are $20 each and can
be purchased at the museum, or call 231-882-5539 to make your reservations.
Thrusday, November 12th, 4PM
Benzonia Academy Lecture Series at the Benzie Area Historical Museum
Justus S. Stearns, Michigan’s Pine King
by Prof. Mike Nagle
Justus S. Stearns was a Michigan entrepreneur with a wide range of accomplishments. In the late
1890s he was the largest producer of manufactured lumber in Michigan and he founded the coalcompany town of Stearns, Kentucky in 1902 that served as the headquarters of Stearns Coal & Lumber,
which mined coal for over 70 years. Stearns also was an active member of the Republican Party who
influenced political discourse when he served one term as Michigan’s secretary of state and ran for
governor on three occasions. Additionally, he was a philanthropist who gave back a great deal of his
wealth to numerous causes in both Michigan and Kentucky. Michael W. Nagle, a Professor of History
at West Shore Community College and author of Justus S. Stearns; Michigan Pine King and Kentucky
Coal Baron, will discuss the astonishing array of Stearns’s achievements with a focus on Michigan.
The presentation will be followed by a book signing with the author.
Saturday and Sunday, November 28th and 29th
Christmas at the Museum and Habitat for Humanity of Benzie County's Festival of Trees
at the Benzie Area Historical Museum
Saturday, November 28th, 10AM-6PM
Sunday, November 29th, 11AM-4:30PM
The annual Habitat for Humanity of Benzie County's “Festival of Trees” at the Benzie Area Historical
Museum, Benzonia features wreaths and trees, decorated by schoolchildren, service clubs, businesses,
and individuals, which are sold and auctioned to benefit local Habitat for Humanity projects. Seasonal
displays of personal and family “Christmas Collections” are displayed throughout the museum to
celebrate Christmas at the Museum. On Saturday, November 29th at 4:00PM there is a reading of
Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory," at the Benzie Area Historical Museum. Admission to all of
these is by donation, the total of which will be shared by the museum and Habitat for Humanity of
Benzie County.
Thursday, December 10th, 4PM
Benzonia Academy Lecture Series at the Benzie Area Historical Museum
The Evolution of Santa Claus: Pagan Myths, Saints, and Marketing
by Dr. Louis Yock
From the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, to the forests of northern Europe, and over to the
industrialized cities of North America, there has always seemed to be a man dishing out rewards and
punishements to children around the time of the winter solstice and the start of the new year. Dr. Louis
Yock examines the many streams of pagan and Christian culture that combined into our current version
of Santa Claus. Dr. Yock received his MA in medieval history and PhD in modern history at the
Gregorian University in Rome, and was an adjunct instructor teaching philosophy at West Shore
Community College until becoming director of the Benzie Area Historical Museum in 2007.
January 14, 4PM
Benzonia Academy Lecture Series at the Benzie Area Historical Museum
Lincoln's Journey Home, A Nation In Mourning
by Catherine Kelder
Catherine A. Kelder will provide reflections on the 150th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's death and
the amazing 1662 mile train trip from Washington D C to Springfield, Illinois. Highlights of that
journey and reflections and reenactments in Springfield in 2015. Catherine Kelder is a native of
Illinois and admirer of oneof the great individuals who have dwelled on this planet at a crucial time in
history. She taught for 17 years, hold a Masters Degree in History and Political Science and looks
forward to sharing pictures and anecdotes from the 2015 reenactment of the historical events.