Historical Society Hosts Luncheon Featuring Presentations on Barns

Restoration work on the University of Wisconsin’s Dairy Barn. Submitted.

The Door County Historical Society will host a winter luncheon and a dual presentation about barns on Feb. 24. The lunch and programs are a benefit for the Society’s endowment fund and will be at Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay. The program features a showing of the film The Barn Raisers and a presentation of “An Overview of Barn Preservation in Wisconsin” by Charles Law. The society’s theme for this year is barns.

The Barn Raisers is a documentary that tells the story of barns in the Midwest by examining them through the lens of architecture. What do barn settings, styles, methods and materials tell us about the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these vanishing country cathedrals played in the settling and building of a growing nation? The Barn Raisers paints a cinematic portrait of barns and builders, and reminds us that these remnants from America’s rural past are still here to be appreciated and experienced. A number of Wisconsin barns are featured in the film.

Copies of The Barn Raisers is available for sale from the Door County Historical Society; the cost is $20.

Following lunch, Chuck Law will provide “An Overview of Barn Preservation in Wisconsin.” Wisconsin has been a recognized leader in barn preservation and the presentation highlights its multifaceted programs and significant milestones. An emphasis will be placed on recent aspects of this work including the barn quilt movement, the adaptation of old barns to wedding venues, and what to look for in the future.

Law is one of the founders of the Wisconsin Barn Preservation Program and past President of the National Barn Alliance.

Doors open at 10:30 am and the first program begins at 11 am, followed by lunch, and the second program immediately follows. Stone Harbor Resort will serve chicken dumpling soup, green and pasta salads, sandwiches, pie and coffee. The lunch and program fee is $30. To make a reservation, mail a check to the Door County Historical Society Office, PO Box 71, Sturgeon Bay 54235 by Feb. 20. For more information, call 920.421.2332 or email [email protected].