The mill enjoyed another very busy month in August this year. Usually there is a noticeable drop in visitor traffic once the state fair kicks off, but even then people just kept coming in. We had over 1,800 signatures in our guestbook, mostly visitors from Iowa and Nebraska as expected.

Many of the big projects we discussed in our last issue are now complete with the exception of one. We are still working on getting the live stream up on YouTube to our liking. There have been some technological hiccups in the process, but it should not be much longer before we are finally live.

In the gift shop, we’re excited to announce the long-awaited return of our electrical aebleskiver pans, now back in stock. On another note, however, we won’t be bringing in a container from Denmark this year. Between last year’s late arrival and this year’s tariffs, we do not have the funds to place a shipment this year. But, we also have a good stock, so while we may run out of some things sooner than later, we’re confident we can move into the Christmas season with a plentiful inventory. We will just have to manage with what we can. And we have some other custom products in the pipeline as well that we hope to get by the start of the holiday season.

Julefest advertising forms have gone out as we gear up for another exciting festival that is just around the corner. We have printed new quarter sheets about the festival to hand out, and encourage local businesses to pick some up to help advertise the event. The Kringle Man is already distributing them at all of their travel shows.

Finally, we are excited to announce that we have received an HRDP grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa to be put towards a new set of millstones. The awarded funds are enough to cover the cost of ordering a new set of stones. This is important as it remains unclear how much longer the industry will continue given the lack of new craftsmen in the profession. Stone cutting of this kind is a dying trade, and it was critical to get a pair of stones ordered as soon as possible.

Møllebygger Petersen is in the process of ordering the new stones. Once received, they will continue to hold the stones at their facility in Denmark until we are ready to have them shipped here and installed. We still have a long way to go in fundraising for this project, but having the millstones secured is a major step forward. We hope to have more literature out on the project in the coming weeks as we advance into Phase II of our Back on the Grind campaign.

We’re also very excited to welcome EEHK’s Danish exchange student, Johanne Lyager to our team. Johanne will be volunteering her time with us on Mondays for at least part of the school year. She has indicated an interest in boosting our social media presence. We believe she will be a great asset for us and offer a fresh perspective.