Teddy Roosevelt Dedicates Garfield Farm Museum’s 1906 Dairy Barn Restoration
Advanced ticket purchases are required for Saturday July 13 at 5 pm, when the era of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, will be recalled during the dedication of the restored 1906 Dairy Barn at Garfield Farm Museum. Joe Wiegand will portray Roosevelt sharing stories of his youth, his adventures and selfless dedication to American values at the dawn of the 20th century. Thanks to a generous grant by the Hamill Family Foundation in 2017, in just 11 months Trillium Dell’s barn restoring crew from Knoxville, IL lifted, repaired, restored, and re-sided the barn. Built during what has been called golden era of American agriculture, 1890 – 1918, the barn is reflective of the thousands of dairy farms that once existed across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Dedication of the barn will be a fundraiser for the museum’s latest project, the construction of a collections barn to properly store and preserve museum artifacts. Tickets at $50 each will include refreshments and appetizers, a ribbon cutting, an hour long portrayal of Teddy Roosevelt’s life, and tour of the barn. Tickets may be purchased by calling the museum at 630 584-8485, by e-mail at info@garfieldfarm.org, at www.garfieldfarm.org , or visiting the museum. Reservations are required so seating and refreshments can be planned. Joe Wiegand is the nation’s premiere reprisor of Theodore Roosevelt. A former county commissioner in DeKalb County, Illinois, Joe & his family now reside nearby Colorado Springs, Colorado. Wiegand was a twenty-five year veteran in the rough and tumble world of Illinois politics, managing gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. In 2008, Joe set out with his wife Jenny, daughter Sam, and golden retriever Faith, on a fifty-state tour celebrating TR’s Sesquicentennial birthday and the Centennial of TR’s final year in office. The highlight was a performance at the White House for President & Mrs. George W. Bush on TR’s 150th birthday. Featured at the official National Park Service Centennial Celebration at Yellowstone National Park, Joe’s Theodore Roosevelt is based on solid scholarship and delivered with Rooseveltian showmanship. Joe’s TR Tour is sponsored, in part, by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation of Medora, North Dakota, and Joe is featured every summer in Medora, gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Since 1977, volunteers and donors from 38 states and over 3800 households have worked to save and preserve this 375 acre historically intact former 1840 Illinois prairie farmstead and teamster inn as an 1840s working farm and inn museum. Land preservation and building restoration have been the focus of the project to ultimately establish a hands on participatory program of Illinois settlement life. Focusing on the three inseparable themes of history, farming and nature, the museum depends upon individuals to sustain its preservation. |