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Follow Baleigh
to The Versailles Area Historical Society & Museum
Baleigh Reed, Intern at The Darke County Visitors Bureau is back in
action with this week's installment of "Follow Baleigh" to The
Versailles Area Historical Society.
Where has the month of August gone!? In the blink of an eye, kids are
back at school, and all of the summer festivities have wrapped up. In
Versailles, the summer concluded with a BANG due to the All-Class
Reunion Labor Day weekend. The streets of Versailles were shut down for
the 5th annual All-Class Reunion which is celebrated every four years.
I was fortunate to get the chance to speak with the man who has been
there from the beginning, Mr. Ken DeMange. He said that the reason they
started this event over 20 years ago was to, “Encourage classes to
celebrate their class reunion the same weekend as the All-Class
Reunion. By holding the VHS All-Class Reunion every four years, the
classes rotate celebrating their monumental year for their class
reunions.” Ken explained that the ultimate goal of this event is to
bring the community together and raise money for the Versailles High
School scholarships, which supports their mission statement.
For guest enjoyment, a shuttle bus was provided to transport people to
the Versailles Historical Society Museum every half hour, and I just so
happened to be on it. On the last day of the event, I took a tour
around the museum and spoke with the President of the museum, Deb Pohl.
As I spoke with her, so many questions swirled around in my head. I was
so curious to learn about this establishment, and several others must
have been as well because the museum was packed with families and
people young and old.With the All-Class reunion being held, business
was BOOMING for the museum and other local businesses.
When asked the reasoning for creating the museum, Pohl responded, “On
Poultry Days for several years, people would make displays in the
trophy cases of the old high school for Versailles items they have
collected over the years, and we kept talking about how it would sure
be nice to have a permanent display set up somewhere. So Sara Magoteaux
and I would kid each other back and forth about having a permanent
museum.” Finally after several years of going back and forth trying to
decide who would begin this project, Mrs. Pohl rose to the occasion.
She and Sara got together at the 2009 Poultry Days and both said,
“Let’s go for it!” The rest is history… no pun intended.
The displays inside hold all Versailles area artifacts including items
from all the towns in Versailles and Russia school district. I was made
aware that the “Military room” was the crown jewel of the museum, and
as I entered, I would say that is an understatement. This room is truly
amazing! Inside, one may find uniforms from a great majority of the
wars on loan from the soldiers and their families. I also spotted an
authentic Nazi flag from World War II that someone had recovered. It
was so great to look around at all of the history that surrounds us,
and looking at all of the area people who fight/ have fought daily for
our freedom is beyond a doubt a humbling experience.
In addition to the military room, the museum also has rooms dedicated
to the three areas of the school system, a sports and music room which
displays all of the band uniforms since the 1950s, a train room, a room
entitled “On the Street Where You Live” featuring The Sweet Shop, a
room dedicated to “The Famous Russels” who traveled all around the
United States with a circus act, a fire room displaying shots of the
town before and after it burnt down, a mercantile room, the church room
with items from all of the local churches, a turn of the century 1900
kitchen room, the curiosity room which houses tools used on the farm or
in the kitchen at the time, and many, MANY more!
I highly recommend visiting this museum. I was astounded by how much
history it had to offer, and I would love to visit again soon to learn
even more! Pack up the family and head to the museum during its hours
on Sunday from 1-4 special tours are also available. If you would like
to get involved with the museum, Mrs. Pohl explained that they are
always looking for volunteers to come and help out! If you are
interested in doing anything from building shelves to cleaning/ helping
to change displays, you can call the museum at (937)-526-4222.
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