Page 2 - Lake Front News January 2019

Page 2/LAKE FRONT NEWS/January 2019
A quaint, inviting farmhouse rests next door to the Old German Reformed Church on the Campus of the Kelleys Is- land History Museum. For many years, the Parsonage House sat vacant, uncared-for, and useless. “It eventually became the receptacle for all our junk,” said Janet Killam, Volunteer Coordinator for the Museum. “Anything we couldn’t use or thought we might be able to sell at Treasure Island Day (the annual island-wide yard sale) was thrown into or stored in the Parsonage. No one ever cleaned it or took care of it, except for dealing with a water problem in the cellar.”
The Parsonage House was built in 1888. Its purpose was to house visiting Ministers and eventually, a permanent minis- ter. The last owner of the house was Sis Betzenheimer McK- illips, who vacated in 2010. While she lived in the Parsonage House, Sis carried on the tradition of preserving and caring for the Old Stone Church and was granted life use of the house because of her intervention. In total, the Betzenheimer family spent almost 90 years residing in the Parsonage House. No one wanted to see it fall into disrepair.
The board of the Kelleys Island Historical Association knew that the Parsonage House was an untapped resource that could be put to good use. Island Historian and Museum
board member Leslie Korenko and her husband Bruce painted the living room and maintained the outhouse in the backyard, as the structure never had its own indoor plumbing. “There was talk of turning the Parson- age into a reading room, a bed and breakfast, or a place to stay if you had a wedding at the old stone church next door”, Mrs. Killam indicated. “The resale shop sounded like a good idea, but we had no manpower or vol- unteers willing to sit in it even if we were only open on weekends”
Then, in the summer of 2017, Museum board Treasurer Chris Carrig volunteered to work in the Parsonage on the weekends and it was all that was needed to get the project going. Island- ers who wanted to help surfaced shortly thereafter. Jodie Smith (also a member of the Kelleys Is- land School board) volunteered to help, as she loved going through old things, along with Sonia Taylor, who has a pen- chant for staging commercial spaces (she’s responsible for the decor in the Island Fudge Shop). Mrs. Killam teamed up with the two of them and they began
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2019 Events
Cruisin’ On The Square - May through September come and see classic cars displayed on the Public Square every Tuesday from 5 pm to 8 pm. For more on this event, go to the Cruise Milan website.
Mid-Summers Antique Festival - This annual event takes place the second Sunday of July from 8-4 pm on the Village Square. For additional information please contact Pam Crosby at 419.499.4001.
Milan Melon Festival - Join the fun August 31st - September 2, 2019 for the 61st annual festival.
Holidays in the Village - Each December, come and celebrate the season while viewing the wonderful holiday trees, wreaths and more that community businesses and organizations decorate.
The House That Helped A Museum:
The Parsonage Resale Shop Funds Much-Needed Projects at Kelleys Island History Museum Campus
By Jordan Killam
The Betzenheimer family spent almost 90 years residing in the Parsonage House.
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