Join us down at Leonard-Leota Park for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of The United States of America.
July 4th at 12 pm.
Location is south of the Park Store on the cement pad that is the former site of “The Shack”. There is a plaque there in Tom Kerkenbursh’s honor. Generally, we’ll be set up across the street from the Boy Scout fire pit.
NOTE: If rain is in the forecast, the location could change.
The 250th anniversary commemorative coin with Kelly McKay’s winning design is available via drawing. Stop by the Eager Free Public Library during regular business hours to put your name in to win or at the Grove Society – Historic Baker Building (15 Antes Drive) from 1-4pm on Saturday, June 27th, Saturday, July 4th, or Sunday, July 5th. Winners will be notified July 7th.
Only 250 coins were minted so put your name in to win one before they’re all gone.
Are you searching for events to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States? Check out 250rcwi.com.
The mission of 250rcwi.com is to “Discover, Explore, Appreciate Rock County’s role, contribution and stories in America’s tapestry”.
The website captures many of the local and regional events that are honoring the 250th Anniversary of the United States. They’ve also curated a list of regional Museums, Organizations and Libraries to support anyone’s quest for digging up local history.
The museum at the Historic Baker Building, located at the lower entrance to Leonard-Leota Park, is open for the season. Hours are Saturdays from 1-4pm, except August 15th and September 19th, when we’ll be closed for other events.
Stop by to see artifacts from Evansville’s past and visit the Antes Cabin from the 1930s. Grove Society staff are on hand to share information and answer questions.
We hope to see you this summer!
Kelly J. McKay is the winner of the Commemorative Coin Contest honoring the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. The contest, jointly sponsored by the Evansville Grove Society and the Eager Free Public Library, was to design a coin that depicts “what the 250th anniversary looks like” to the artist personally. McKay’s winning design features a stars-and-stripes birthday cake with candles and an open book labeled “Our Story.”
McKay’s design will be stamped on an antique brass, half-dollar sized coin that will be minted and available for distribution by the Evansville Grove Society as part of Evansville’s Fourth of July celebration.
6:00 pm on Thursday, June 25 at the Eager Free Public Library.
The Evansville Grove Society is joining forces with the Eager Free Public Library to celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States by holding a contest to design a coin commemorating the anniversary. Contestants will design a coin that depicts “what the 250th anniversary looks like” to them personally. The winning design will be placed on an antique brass coin, minted and available for distribution around the Fourth of July. We encourage people of all ages to participate and hope to have a large selection of pictures from which to choose the winner. Entry forms are available at the library; the deadline to submit is May 1st.
Have fun! Be creative! Show us what the 250th looks like to you!
On Sunday afternoon, February 22, the Grove Society sponsored a watch party for a new PBS Wisconsin documentary, Bucky!, on the life and times of the beloved UW mascot. PBS reached out to us because an Evansville Resident from the early twentieth century, Lloyd “Babe”
Spencer, played an important role in the story. “Babe” was the original mascot for the UW teams and was known for his playful nature and for bringing his pet badger, “Billie,” to the games with him. In the late 1940s Wisconsin Athletics replaced the live “Billie” with the cartoon character,
“Bucky” that we know today.
The party took place at The Night Owl in Evansville; the Night Owl’s Travis Ardisson was happy to collaborate with the Grove Society and provided a special menu of old-time Wisconsin food and drink. A delegation from PBS Wisconsin included the documentary’s director and producer, who entertained questions from the audience after the showing.
The highlight of the party, however, was an appearance by Bucky Badger himself, who spent an hour posing for pictures, delighting the many children in attendance, and leading them around the place as if he were the Pied Piper.
Bucky also assisted in awarding Evansville’s First Historian, Ruth Ann Montgomery, with a lifetime membership in the Grove Society.
A running theme of the documentary is the way in which Bucky Badger appeals to everyone who cares about Wisconsin: he makes people happy, makes us feel connected in our love for him and for our state. As the photographs make clear, Bucky did that for everyone who attended the
watch party: we laughed, we delighted in his shenanigans, we felt fortunate to be able to share in his Bucky-ness for an afternoon. The Night Owl, PBS Wisconsin, Wisconsin Athletics, and the Grove Society all contributed to the event’s success, but at the end of the day the event’s contribution to the life of Evansville’s community amounted to considerably more than the sum of the parts.
The documentary can be found on the PBS Wisconsin app, as well as on PBS’s YouTube channel. There is additional content on the PBS Wisconsin page and on Youtube, including an original short feature on RoseAnn Donovan, a woman who was Bucky in the 1980s.
PBS Wisconsin interviewed Ruth Ann Montgomery as part of their research while making the documentary, “Bucky!”.
You can read the transcript HERE, and also find some amazing photos of Lloyd “Babe” Spencer, Evansville native, who was an intregral character behind the UW’s beloved mascot.
Put on your Badger Red and join us at the Night Owl on February 22nd to watch the new PBS documentary on the life and times of UW’s beloved mascot, Bucky Badger.
