Celebrate the Holidays with Us!
Make your reservations now to celebrate with us at the Champaign County Historical Society’s Annual Holiday Celebration Dinner, Sunday, December 8, at BrownRidge Hall, 220 E. Court St., Urbana (the VFW building).

The fun will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m. A delicious dinner, at 6 p.m., will be served, buffet style, by In Good Taste Catering, featuring chicken and ham. And a dessert bar! Water, tea, and lemonade will be provided, and we’ll have a cash bar for other refreshments.

Make your reservations here, at $25 per person. Or you may make your reservations in person at the museum. In either case, reservations are due by December 2.

Champaign County sculptor Mike Major will speak on the work and life of 19th century sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at the Champaign County Historical Society Museum, 809 East Market St., Urbana. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Ward, born in Urbana in 1830, became known as the “Dean of American Sculpture” for his naturalistic works, including the Indian Hunter, placed in New York City’s Central Park. A replica of the sculpture, commissioned by his wife on his passing in 1910, marks his grave at Oak Dale Cemetery in Urbana.  
 
Major restored the Indian Hunter at Oak Dale Cemetery in 2018. He says that Ward got his start in sculpting as a youth in Urbana. He enjoyed sculpting small animals, figures on horseback, sawmills, and populated villages.

Shown is Sue Evans Berkemeier with appraiser, Greg Shipley, and the meteorite which was discovered by her father and grandfather on the family farm in Champaign County. Found in the late 1940’s, it weighs about 20 pounds and is millions of years old. It has been verified and tested as authentic by the OSU labs  As this is such a rare find, she was the winner of the award for the “Most Valuable” item presented at the Fair.

Taking the prize for the “Most Unusual” item was a folk- art piece described as an “iron pig”. Shown is Gary Shambaugh who found the item in a box of toys purchased at a yard sale in the 1970’s. He wanted the hot wheels which were in the box, but, on discovering the unusual figure, he decided to keep it. The figure was painted yellow with pink dots and upon removing the paint he discovered the figure had an animal body with a man’s face.  It is considered a rare piece of folk art valued between $250-300.

Mrs. Berkemeier and Mr. Shambaugh donated the cash prizes to the Museum.

Here’s the scoop – the Historical Society is holding an old fashion ice cream social on July 24 from 2-5 pm on the lawn of the Museum.  Don’t miss this opportunity to relax under the trees and enjoy your favorite ice cream concoction. A variety of flavors and toppings will be offered along with your choice of cake or pie. There is no entry fee, just pay when you order your favorite sweet!
 
To ensure a successful event, help from the membership is needed.  We need help with set up and tear down of the tables and the popup tents. Also, volunteers to serve the “sweets” and direct parking. For the bakers in the group, we invite you to donate a cake! Let’s get those mixing bowls out and stir up a “taste of heaven”!
  
We will order pies from Stephens Orchard and will accept donations of $12.00/pie if you would like to sponsor a pie.  All donations are greatly appreciated!
 
Please contact event chairman, Sandy Gonzalez (937-408-4195) with any questions and to volunteer – we need your help! This is a fundraiser for the CCHS, spread the word!
  
Celebrate National Ice Cream Month the old fashion way – visiting friends under the shade trees while enjoying an ice cold treat on a lazy summer day!   
 
 See you July 24!

The Champaign County Historical Society will host artist Michael Major for a presentation at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 6. His presentation will be based on a book that he is completing for his family titled An Artist’s Memories about his career of creating drawings, paintings and sculpture. He will show pictures from the book of the artwork and explain how drawing is the foundation for painting and sculpture.

Major has completed over 200 bronze sculptures including large public monuments and small limited edition castings. Those monuments include life-size and larger than life monuments of public figures such as Simon Kenton,William Tecumseh Sherman, Abraham Lincoln, George Rogers Clark, Mother Alfred Moes (founder of the Mayo Clinic) and many more.

There will be four appraisers at the event. The first appraiser highlighted is Greg Shipley.

Shipley has been a passionate collector of early Americana and Native American artifacts for over 50 years. He is an avid amateur archaeologist and his favorite part of collecting is hunting for artifacts in the field. Shipley is looking forward to the Appraisal fair and helping you know what your prized possession is worth.

Early Americana items include relics from the Colonial era through the Federal era (1620-1820). Native American artifacts include stone and flint arrowheads and cutting implements, trade goods, tomahawks, beads and wampum.

The second appraiser highlighted is Dan Fawcett of Cable. Fawcett has been a collector, trader, picker and subject matter expert on antiques and collectibles for more than 40 years. He is well known to most dealers in the region and his opinion on antiques is frequently sought by the Ohio History Connection. His has a lifetime of knowledge of Logan, Clark and Champaign County artifacts. Fawcett is looking forward to the Appraisal fair and helping you know what your prized possession is worth.