Hello readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage blog!
I am happy to tell you all that the paintings from the Gary Ernest Smith Exhibition of ours that were in display in Ames have returned to Perry! If you didn't have a chance to see these paintings while they were in Ames, you can see the ones that we here in Perry! Unfortunately not all the paintings that were on display in Ames are here in Perry, as the ones we do not own have gone back to Minneapolis and California, but you can see the ones we own such as Stubble, Earth, and Snow, Midwest Farm, and Iowa Fields. Don't forget, you can also see all the people pieces that we own back here in Perry. Also, for those who do not know, we have moved! We are now in the Carnegie Library Museum across the street from our old office, next to the Public Library. This means that the Carnegie will be open every Monday through Friday. If you haven't had a chance to see the inside of the restored building, I highly encourage you to do so! We are open the same hours as before, 9 to 5. Stop by some time and have a look at our new office!
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Hello Readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage Blog!
Today is a short post, as we have been busy all day moving our office across the street! That's right, Hometown Heritage is now located in the Carnegie Library. We will have the same hours as we did in our old office, but now if you visit us you can also enjoy the beautiful Carnegie Library. In addition to all the services we already provide, we will also be overseeing a new Genealogy station that has been installed in the Carnegie. If you wish to contact us to get more information, you can swing by the Carnegie or call us at our new number, 515-465-7713. We hope to see you at the Library! Hello readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage Blog!
I am excited to tell you that this week is our last event! Tomorrow night, starting at 4:30 P.M. in the Hotel Pattee lobby in Perry, Iowa, is the last Art Tour Odd # Thursday. As this is the last Art Tour, this is also your last chance to see the art on display in the Hotel Pattee, Town Craft Building, and Security Savings Bank. Soon the art in these places will be returning to their original locations and owners. Although you will still be able to see the art that is from the Hotel Pattee, many pieces will be returning to California and Minneapolis. Come and see these works before they are gone! In addition, the pieces in Ames will all also be returning to their original locations as well. If you have not gone to see the landscapes of Gary Ernest Smith, make sure you do soon! Finally, this Art Tour Odd # Thursday will be special, as a Perry Area themed gift basket will be given out to one lucky winner. Again, this event is tomorrow, Thursday December 29, at 4:30 P.M. in the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa. We hope to see you there, and have a happy New Year readers! Happy Holidays readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage blog! Christmas is right around the corner, so I hope that you have your gifts wrapped and trees decorated! Speaking of trees, we have many pictures of Christmas trees in our collection. Most are the standard kind of family picture with everyone grouped around the tree, smiling for the camera. Some of the pictures, however, are quite a bit different. One of my favorite different Christmas tree pictures is titled “Bullock Child” and is a photo from 1926. As you can see, this photo is a simple one with a child sitting in front of a Christmas tree. What makes it stand out to me, however, is that the tree is unbelievably sparse! It bears a striking resemblance to the tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the thin branches and almost non-existent needles. It makes you wonder why this family has such a sad looking tree. Did the area where they lived not have enough trees to go around? Did the family not have enough money to buy a tree? They seem to have been able to decorate it and provide gifts for everyone, as the boy is playing with something underneath the tree. Perhaps they spent too much money on decorations and presents. It might even be possible that they had an unfortunate accident with the tree, where all the needles fell off on the way home. We may never know the real reason, but it is fun to speculate. Do you have any memories of a sad Christmas tree? Let us know in the comments, and have a good holiday season readers! Tomorrow is our next event, Art Tour Odd # Thursday with host Robert Spellman! Robert Spellman is an abstract painter from Des Moines, Iowa. He is represented by Modern Arts Midtown Omaha, Nebraska and by Moberg Chicago. Some of you may remember him as the host of one of our previous events, the Adult Painting Intensive. This time, he will be at the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa on December 15 from 4:30 P.M. to 6:30 P.M, where he will be talking about his art and the art of Gary Ernest Smith. As with other Art Tour Odd # Thursdays, we will be near the fireplace in the Hotel Pattee. It is going to be cold out, so why not come and relax by said fireplace in the cozy Hotel Pattee on Thursday night and enjoy the art of Robert Spellman and Gary Ernest Smith? The event is free and open to the public, and you can come at any point during the evening. Betsy Peterson will also be there with her Art Cart. If you have not had used Betsy's Art Cart, this is your last chance! The cart holds various painting supplies, which allow you to try your hand at painting in a similar style to Gary Ernest Smith. We highly encourage you to come!
Hello readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage blog! Today we got a new donation of some old photos showing an interesting little café that used to exist here in Perry. The café was called the “Arcade Café”, and it appears to have been owned (or at least primarily operated by) George and Merle Watson. The photos, as you can see, show a nice little café that appears to have been very popular. The booths are full, the tables are full, even the counter in one photo is surrounded by people. In one photo you can see a sign that reads telephone, which must lead to a small area where the telephone booth was located (this place reminds me of the café scene in the movie Back to the Future). Overall, it looks like the café used to be quite the place to eat in Perry! Now, some of you may be asking yourself “These are just ordinary photos of a café, why are they interesting at all?” Perhaps some of you may have already deduced the answer, which is that these photos may be of the same café, but they are not taken in the same building. One photo, which shows the telephone sign, is actually taken at the old location of the café. This location is 1109 2nd Avenue, in what people used to call the Wimmer Building. The other two photos were taken at the café’s new location on Willis Avenue, where Vivi Nails is now located. Today, many people call this the “Arcade Building.” Perhaps it is called this because it used to be the location of the Arcade Café? If you have any more information about the Arcade Café, or why the building is now called the Arcade, please let us know in the comments! Hello readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage Blog!
Today I want to tell you about tomorrow’s event, Art Tour Odd # Thursday 8! Similar to other Art Tour Odd # Thursdays, this event will take place in the lobby of the Hotel Pattee starting at 4:30 P.M and ending at 6:30 P.M. This time, however, our host will be Jennifer Drinkwater! Jennifer Drinkwater is an Associate Professor at Iowa State University and a Community Arts Coordinator. Some of you may recognize her, as she has been active here in Perry. She is part of the Latino Americans: 500 Years Of History events, which started earlier this year. Her role in those events is to help create a mural for Perry, based off several Oral History that we helped to collect. During tomorrow’s event, she will be talking about how she creates her art and the art of Gary Ernest Smith. The evening promises to bring a fresh perspective to the artwork on display. The event is free and open to the public, so we hope to see many of you there! Hello and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage Blog!
The holiday season has official started, and tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Many people will be gathering with their families to eat copious amounts of food and take a much-deserved break. The staple of numerous feasts tomorrow will be a home cooked (and hopefully not burnt) turkey. Most people will buy their turkeys at the store, already cleaned, plucked, and frozen. However, can you imagine what it would be like to have to raise your own turkey just for the Thanksgiving feast? Back in the early 1900s, many families had to raise and then slaughter their own turkey if they wanted to have one for a Thanksgiving celebration. Imagine you woke up Thanksgiving morning, bright and early, to start preparing for the day. You head outside to your farm, and similar to Donald Johnson in the picture below, you find yourself surrounded by turkeys. It is probably very loud with all of the gobbling going on, making it hard to hear anything else. Alternatively, maybe you saw some just outside by your car, similar to the turkeys seen in the picture of Stroudtman Farm. Which turkey do you pick? After spending so many months raising them, you must know all about them, possible even named some. The choice would be quite difficult; do you pick the one with the most meat on it, or the one that you can catch the easiest? I imagine the turkeys would not be very happy about the idea of being cooked up and eaten, similar to those of the chickens in the movie Chicken Run (perhaps they have plans to escape!). After catching the right turkey, you then have to slaughter it, pluck out all the feathers, remove parts like the feet, and determine the best way to cook it. From the sounds of it, getting a turkey for Thanksgiving used to be an all day ordeal! Personally, I think I will stick to hunting down my turkey in the grocery aisle. As we cook our turkey this Thanksgiving, I am going to be thankful that I did not have to go out and hunt it down myself. Readers, what are you going to be thankful for this Thanksgiving? Leave a comment and let us know, and I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving! Hello and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage blog!
This week I wanted to tell you all about the event we are having tomorrow night, November 17! This time it is Art Tour Odd # Thursday #7. Unlike previous Art Tour Odd # Thursdays, this one will be something a little different! Tomorrow, starting at 4:30 P.M., Dr. Randy McCaulley will be at the Hotel Pattee. His theme for the evening will be “An Evening of Art and Music”. As you may be able to glean from the title, tomorrow night will feature both art and music! Dr. Randy McCaulley will be playing his music at the Hotel, using the piano some of you may have seen in the lobby and singing. I do not know exactly what songs he will be playing, but it could be possible that he might take a request or two, so come with some songs in mind. Aside from playing, he will also be there to talk about music, art, and answer any other question you may have. The night will last until 6:30, and you can come any time you like and join in the fun. Similar to previous Art Tour Odd # Thursdays as well, we will have Betsy Peterson’s art cart available, so that you can try your hand at making a painting similar to those you see on display. So far, a few people have tried it and their paintings have come out great. I hope to see many of you there to enjoy the music and the art! Hello Readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage Blog! Yesterday, America chose who was going to be its 45 president. The candidates campaigned hard all across America, but they both spent a fair amount of time in Iowa. This trend does not appear to be new, either. Presidents have been making stops in not only Iowa, but also small towns such as Perry for a long time! Today I thought I would share with you some of the Presidential visits I found in our collection. This Presidential visit took place in 1948. Some of you may be able to remember that during that time, the President was Harry Truman. Although the pictures we have, such as the one you see here, are of him visiting Dexter and not Perry, Perry still played a big part: the Perry High School band was invited to play at his speech! Our records do not show what President Truman spoke about, or why the band was invited to play, but it must have been quite an honor to play for the President. Other presidents also have some ties to Perry, Iowa. A presidential hopeful made many stops in Iowa, particularly in Perry, during his many candidacies. This man was William Jennings Bryan, who spoke twice in Perry, trying his best to win each presidential race (although he ultimately he lost three times). We have a picture of one of his speeches on display in the Chautauqua room in the Hotel. Perry native Robert Dean Harrison had some contact with the presidential office, as he served in the Secret Service protecting President Eisenhower. George Soumas also met President Eisenhower. Overall, it seems like even small towns like Perry, Iowa can have some big connections to the highest office in the land. On a different note, I want to let you all know that Hometown Heritage will be open this weekend during Art on the Prairie! This time we will have Rick Stewart, the man behind the two most recent Wall of Witnesses reliefs, down in our office demonstrating some of his craft. If you are participating in the events, make sure to come down to the lower level of the Town/Craft Building to see a sculptors work in person! |
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