
Jim Schmiechen and Harold Thieda greet
Jon Helmrich and Shelley Irwin on the patio, talk about the origins
of the Museum and riverside garden.

Harold Thieda overviews the Society
and its volunteer activities.

Strolling through the new exhibit, Jim
Schmiechen pauses to explain the big-screen video presentation.

Kit Lane tells Irwin about the newly
updated Big Pavilion book published for this year's exhibit.

Curtis Kamman comments on the
experience of volunteering as a Museum docent.
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WGVU-FM's Morning Show host Shelley Irwin and Society member Jon
Helmrich, Irwin's co-host for the show's monthly "View From
The Dunes" feature, visited the Museum on June 23 to tape
interviews for a special half-hour show about this year's new
exhibit. The show aired the following Friday, June 26 at 9:30 a.m.,
and can be revisited on-line via the station's web-site archive.
Just click on the WGVU logo below and then click on the audio icon
to
listen to the broadcast

Irwin and Helmrich talked with exhibit curator and writer Jim
Schmiechen, historian Kit Lane and Society President Harold Thieda,
then visited with Curtis Kamman who was on duty as that day's
volunteer docent along with his wife Mary. The interviews discussed
the intricacies of creating "Summertime: A Century of Leisure
at the Lake Michigan Shore", arguably the most ambitious
exhibit in recent memory, as well as its new exhibit-related book,
an updated and expanded edition of the Society's Big Pavilion book
written by Kit Lane and designed by Society member Ken Carls.
Helmrich, who created the monthly "View" feature for The Morning
Show in February of 2007, has since helped the show enhance our
community's recognition through interviews with key area leaders
ranging from city officials and association executives to artists
and gallery owners, entertainment venue operators, preservationists,
business owners and events coordinators. Meanwhile, Irwin recently
received a Merit Award for Community Involvement from the Michigan
Association of Broadcasters for her "End of Summer Tour" feature
recorded in the Saugatuck/Douglas area.
Since its recent season opening on Memorial Day weekend, the Museum
already had recorded more than 1500 visitors, an 80% increase over
the same period last year. It has become one of Michigan's
best-known and most-visited small-town museums, annually drawing
nearly 10,000 visitors to its exhibits and more than 40,000 visitors
to its outdoor garden and harbor-front walkway. Winner of a dozen
state awards in recent years, it was selected as one of only four
world-wide sites for the International Society of Architectural
Historians "Architectural History Tour" in October 2007.
Its 2009 exhibit combines digitized home movies and period
photography with artifacts and scale models to document the origins
and evolution of the lakeside recreation culture that has made this
community a summertime vacation destination with growing nationwide
attraction. Woven around a centerpiece walk-through structure that
celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Big Pavilion's opening in
1909, the display features a video documenting the rise and fall of
the Pavilion and houses a detailed model of that historic venue.
Although conceived a year or more ago, the new exhibit's theme
resonates with the National Trust for Historic Preservation's recent
naming of Saugatuck-Douglas one of it's "Dozen Distinctive
Destinations for 2009".

See our newly updated web pages about the Museum and
its 2009 exhibit - just click
HERE.

Article and photos submitted by John Peters.
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ABOUT THE SOCIETY
To become a member or renew your membership select from the
following categories:
Individual |
$25 |
Household |
$45 |
Senior (65+) |
$18 |
Senior Household |
$30 |
Student |
$5 |
Corporate |
$150 |
Life, Individual |
$300 |
Life, Household |
$500 |
Send check payable to the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society to:
PO Box 617, Douglas, Michigan 49406. You can also click
HERE for a Society Membership Application.
Send items for the newsletter to: Fred Schmidt, PO Box
617, Douglas MI
49406 or email info@sdhistoricalsociety.org
MUSEUM AND TECH CENTER
The Saugatuck-Historical Museum is located in the
historic Pump House at the foot of Mt. Baldhead on the west bank of
the Kalamazoo River. The
Museum will open Memorial Day weekend 2009 with a new exhibit
titled:
"Summertime: A Century of
Leisure at the Lake Michigan
Shore"
The Museum will
be open daily from Noon to 4 PM through Labor Day and on weekends in
September and October from Noon to 4 PM.
The Society's Technology Center is open Monday from 1
to 4 p.m., Tuesdays 10 a.m. to noon and Wednesday 9 a.m. to noon.
Society Phone: 269 857-5751
Museum Phone: 269 857-7900
Tech Center Phone 269 857-7901
www.sdhistoricalsociety.org
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