It’s been busy spring at the Marion Heritage Center!
At the beginning of the month, on Sunday, May 10, our own Sam Dillion gave a presentation entitled “Marion’s Train Past into the Future.” (His wife Jo ran the projector.) Sam, who grew up out East, has loved trains since early childhood. He was thrilled when he had the opportunity as a boy to ride the Milwaukee rail west, stopping in Valparaiso and Marion. What he didn’t know at the time was that he would eventually return to Valparaiso to attend college and meet his wife. Not long after they married, Sam and Jo moved to Marion and made it their home. Both have been long-time members of the Marion Heritage Center. Sam, especially, was instrumental in moving the train depot.
Two weeks later, on March 22, we had twenty students from Jonathan Mitchell’s Marion High School social studies class visit. They attentively listened to a twenty-minute presentation by me on Marion’s history with the railroad. One particular student loved trains and had a lot of questions about, and insightful facts on other artifacts. He shared that he has traveled by rail with his family. Several of the boys entertained themselves with the permanent train exhibit we have, with the garden train we have on loan for this exhibit, and with the small, Thomas the Train set up. Mr. Mitchell asked to schedule two classes he would soon have.
On Wednesday, March 3, ten clients from Milestones came to the Heritage Center. They listened to a similar presentation that I gave to the Marion High School students. They were interested in what is currently happening with both the train depot and the caboose that was in City Square Park. Relief washed through the room as I explained it would return after being repaired and painted. Then, they had time to explore on their own. Again, we had one gentleman who was interested in the exhibit. We had a nice conversation about different artifacts.
We had nearly 40 senior members of the Spirit of Faith Family Church in Cedar Rapids come on Saturday, April 13. They were lively and engaging on every level! They were interested in both Marion’s history with the trains, but also the city’s general history. A few were from here, some were from Cedar Rapids, and some were from small towns around, like Palo and Toddville. We had an energetic, fun-filled presentation.
I introduced them to the permanent exhibits in the lower level, which received many oohhs and aahhs. Taking them upstairs, they explored the train exhibit for a few minutes before sitting down to my presentation. One woman shared a story that, as a little girl, she and her family rode the Milwaukee all the way to Orgon and back, for a vacation. A gentleman came up after and suggested that if I’m ever in Cincinnati, I visit the Union Station Museum with murals as large as our walls. And we had a discussion about why Marion can no longer have a Swamp Fox Festival to celebrate our heritage.
Before the end of April, we will have Loree Dee giving a presentation on the underground railroad (April 21) going through her family’s home in Salem, Iowa. Salem is a town straight south of Mt. Pleasant. Loree’s talk will begin at 1:30 pm.
The Lion’s Club will hold their meeting at the Heritage Center on Thursday, April 25, at 11:30. It will include lunch and a presentation.
The last event of the train exhibit and of this month is a discussion entitled “Orphan Trains of the Midwest.” It will be on Sunday, April 28, at 1:30. Robyn Ireland, director of the Heritage Center, is the presenter.
