Public invited for an evening at historic Benton Harbor resorts, June 4

On Tuesday, June 4, a unique opportunity will be offered to experience summer joys of the past on historic resort grounds in Benton Harbor: Mary’s City of David and its cousin Eden Springs Park.  Participants will enjoy a brief historical program, a Gardens tour, old-fashioned summer treats, and rides on the century-old railroad at Eden Springs.  The cost is a $25/person donation for this “Summer Evening”; proceeds benefit Mary’s City of David, Eden Springs Park, and the North Berrien Historical Museum.  Reservations can be secured upon payment to the North Berrien Historical Museum in person or by mail to P.O. Box 207, Coloma, MI 49038.

The itinerary for this June 4 “Summer Evening" fundraiser is as follows:

· Begins at 6:30pm in the original 1932 vegetarian restaurant building at Mary’s City of David; History Talk by museum curator, Ron Taylor, on Sister Mary Purnell’s summer resort season public meetings.

· Intimate tour of the historic Gardens surrounding Mary’s Shiloh Administration Building.         

· Stop for an ice cream social!  At the original 1932 concession stand, we’ll be served ice cream, cookies, and homemade lemonade.

· Move to nearby Eden Springs Park. Ride on original 1908-09 Baushke built rail carriages, departing from the original south depot. The short train route will encompass the properties that were the zoo, aviary, green house, hotel, restaurant and base ball field.  Two rides are included. 

For more information, please contact the North Berrien Historical Museum at (269) 468-3330.

All are welcome to May 21 program on local transportation firsts

The North Berrien Historical Museum welcomes the public to attend a presentation by local historian Dr. Stuart Boekeloo, “First by Car and First by Air: All from Southwest Michigan”.  It will be held on Tuesday, May 21, at 7pm.  (The originally scheduled date for this program in February 2013 was cancelled due to weather.)

 

In this program, Dr. Boekeloo will cover the historic transportation milestones reached in Berrien County.  In the 1890s, America’s first gas-powered automobile prototype came out of the Baushke Carriage Works in Benton Harbor, while on Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Augustus Herring was one of the first ever to fly a motorized aircraft.  Years later, the Whirlpool Corporation worked with NASA to develop products for supporting human space travel.  A prototype space food tray and Whirlpool literature from the collection of the North Berrien Historical Museum will be on display.

This event is free to attend and refreshments will be served.  The museum is located at 300 Coloma Avenue, on Red Arrow Highway across from Coloma High School.  For more information, contact the museum at (269) 468-3330.