Winter may slow things down, but we have been very busy at the mill since the start of the New Year. Between the Denmark shipment arriving the last week of December, the annual meeting in January, and several changes currently underway, there hasn’t been a lot of time to sit down and get out the updates we need to announce.

First, we want to thank those who came to the annual meeting in January. Chris Fredericksen and Bruce Poldberg were elected for new terms as board members. The officers for 2025 are Chris Fredericksen (President); Tony Petersen (Vice President); Nicole Butler (Treasurer); and Brandon Baggett (Secretary). There will be 3 vacancies on the board next year and we ask those who are interested in joining to get in touch with us. The annual report from the meeting can be downloaded here.

Second, the newsletter is finally ready and off to print. We hope to have them mailed out by the end of this week, but the newest issue is already available for viewing online, here. In conjunction with the newsletter, we have also published a comprehensive review of the 2024 repairs that encompassed Phase 1 of our Back on the Grind capital campaign. That review, including several images of the project, can be viewed here.

More improvements were made to the gift shop in January including an overhaul of our candle displays. A proper display for our Danish ball candles was made, and we’ve re-worked the center island to make space for our new LEGO train exhibit that is almost finished. This exhibit is still in development, but we hope to have a functioning passenger train for the travel months and the LEGO holiday train running during the next Julefest celebration.

Our t-shirt and apparel sections have also been reworked to make space for a new line of toys and games that we’re excited to bring in for 2025: Thames & Kosmos. This brand specializes in educational games that introduce children to different ‘STEAM’ learning experiences including engineering, weather, renewable energy, and gears. We’re excited to bring this brand into the gift shop and plan to integrate it into the windmill tour as a means to enhance the windmill as an educational space. 

Our annual plates from Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grøndahl are also in. These include both Christmas plates, the Mother's Day plate, and Royal Copenhagen's 250th anniversary plate. These and the Thames & Kosmos items are already available online at danishwindmill.com, and we're continuing our free shipping offer into 2025 indefinitely.

Finally, we have another Throwback Thor’s Day coming up on February 20. Join us in Elk Horn for a night of Danish food and fun, featuring a frikadeller meal at Norse Horse. We hope to see you then!