Despite the weather outside, we find ourselves slowing inching closer to Spring. Traffic has picked up, as has the wind, and the windmill continues to spin almost every day. Everything appears to be in good order and we’re very excited to start grinding again soon. What we might do with the flour is still unresolved, but we do have small glass bottles for people to take some as a souvenir. Since flour ground in the mill doesn’t have any additives or preservatives in it, it needs to be stored in cold temperatures immediately, and we don’t have the capacity to do that currently.

Another Throwback Thor’s Day has also come and gone. As usual, the Norse Horse sold out of meals within an hour as people clamored through the door for a taste of Danish food. We look forward to celebrating another one again before too long. The windmill ran until about 7:30 that night and it is always a treat to have it going as people mill about town. A few came in to see all the changes made in the store, and we can finally say we’re ready to go as the travel season begins.

There is still plenty to do though. Looking ahead towards our fundraiser for the Kids in the Village daycare, we’re now turning our attention to inside the windmill and preparing our new exhibit spaces. These will feature a number of different educational snippets about the windmill including our archival materials, the millstones, the sack hoist, the fantail, the gear systems, and the farm-to-table processes of grain to flour. Some of these will feature interactive components for visitors. We’re especially excited to finally have integrated our historic Vestergaard Ledger, the last account book kept during the mill’s commercial use, into our tour. All of this is coming soon, and an article outlining the mill’s Danish past will feature in our upcoming newsletter. More news about the upcoming fundraiser sessions will be out later in the week. The first will be Sunday, April 7, and all proceeds from tours that day will be donated to the daycare. All of our exhibits in the windmill should be ready to go by then. The ledger exhibit will include the page showing “Bager Kjeldsen” or Baker Kjeldsen, the founder of Kelsen Group A/S, the company that produces the famous Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies in Nørre Snede, today.

Finally, we’re excited to announce that we have received another grant from the Shelby County Community Foundation. These funds will be used to purchase and install a new entertainment building to replace the old concession stand sitting over the stage. This new building will house a new speaker system for the stage, including the folk dancers during Tivoli and other performances throughout the year as needed. This will significantly boost the quality of productions put on the stage and will ensure everyone will be able to hear performances despite crowds or distance. It will also provide us necessary storage for the picnic tables, holiday decorations, and other things taking up a considerable amount of space in our main building currently.

All this and more is on the way. We’re excited for these changes and look forward to another prosperous year.