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Historical Society Explores ‘Sturgeon Bay Drugstores of the Past’ Oct. 23

The Door County Historical Society will host its monthly dinner program, “Sturgeon Bay Drugstores of the Past” presented by Mary Grota and Ginny Haen of the Peninsula Genealogical Society on Oct. 23, at the Moravian Church in Sturgeon Bay.

Drugstores sell drugs, but in their research Grota and Haen found that they also sold any number of additional items that you might not expect to find there. Now, each town or city has several large drugstores scattered throughout the town, but in the past, several smaller ones were located in a short stretch of the main downtown street. This is similar to how you would find multiple groceries and meat markets throughout the town in early days. They will share the locations of the many drugstores and some fun stories they discovered about these them by searching through the old Door County newspapers. The newspapers are searchable online through Door County Library’s portal beginning in 1862 and continuing until 1979.

As longtime genealogists, Grota and Haen find they can’t ignore any historical mystery that is just waiting to be solved, even if it’s not about their own families, but a subject like drugstores. This program was first presented by this “detective duo” for the Peninsula Genealogical Society a couple of years ago; Society members were so entertained by their witty presentation that they coaxed Grota and Haen to revive the program.

The dinner includes green salad with apples and maple vinaigrette, cherry Jell-O, Swiss Steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, braised red cabbage, rolls, choice of coffee, tea or milk, and bread pudding with citrus sauce for dessert. The dinner and program will be held at the Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church located at 323 S. Fifth Avenue, Sturgeon Bay. The fees are $21 for Society members and $25 for guests. Dinner will be served promptly at 6 pm.

Make reservations by sending payment to the Door County Historical Society, PO Box 71, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. The reservation deadline is Oct. 16. The cost is $5 to attend the program only, which starts at 6:45 pm. For more information, call 920.421.2332 or email [email protected].

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