Earlier this month, Jim Peters, president of the Saline Area Historical Society, presented its 2017 annual report to City Council. Drawing on those materials, Saline Journal has prepared the following Q&A as a creative way for local stakeholders to assess their knowledge of this exceptional organization. [1]
Question: How many people visited Society-run musuems, attended its special events, or came to presentations last year? [2]
Answer: 4,965
Additionally, volunteers donated 6,468 hours of their own time to make all of these things (and what’s behind them) happen. Based on calculators provided by the federal government, that works out to $153,097.56 in value added to the Saline community.
Question: Is the produce grown at Rentschler farm edible or is it just for show? [3]
Answer: It is edible — and it is eaten.
According to John and Kathy Bauman, Rentschler Farm produced “3,100 pounds of cleaned, ready to use vegetables.” Moreover, this yeild was then donated to Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County. [4]
In additional discussion with Saline Journal, Mr Peters emphasized that this farm continues to be tended in the way agriculture work was done in the 1930s, 1940s. “We don’t use pesticides or plastic hoses here. We don’t grow modified tomatoes that weren’t around in the period.”
Question: How much does it cost to go through the Saline railroad depot? [5]
Answer: Admission is free to this museum, as well as the Rentschler farm property. [6]
However— The building that first opened in 1870 as the Saline Railroad Depot is today called “Saline History Museum.” Jim Peters explained that this name better reflects the displays within, which are about evenly divided between railroad history and the broader history of Saline. Going forward, he said to expect pieces inside to rotate more frequently.
Question: Are there a lot of items here to “rotate”?
Answer: As of the 2017 report, 3,286 separate items had been catalogued; those that are not displayed are kept in archive. The total approximate value is $164,523 right now. Last year, 144 objects were acquired. [7]
***
Like the Saline Historical Society report itself, this article simply overviews the rich details that must be experienced to be fully appreciated. As always, the Saline History Museum remains open during scheduled hours year round. And less than two weeks from now, Rentschler Farm Museum opens once again for another new season.
The Saline Area Historical Society is keeping your history alive.
References
- “Saline City Council Meeting 4-2-2018” City of Saline (April 3, 2018) Vimeo.
- Saline Area Historical Society (home page).
- “Rentschler Farm Museum” Saline Area Historical Society.
- Food Gatherers (home page).
- “Saline Depot Museum” Saline Area Historical Society.
- “Our Museums” Saline Area Historical Society.
- “Donations” Saline Area Historical Society.
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