Prill School Museum Needs Help
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Staff Report-
It is in need of repair, members and volunteers to take care of it.
A meeting at Prill School will be Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. to discuss ways to save the one-room schoolhouse. The public is invited to bring their ideas.
The public will be able to see the old desks, stove and antique items that made up a one-room school like those your ancestors attended. You can see what needs to be done to repair the building. The goal is find some people willing to serve as officers of the Prill School Museum Association, owner of the building.
Prill School was opened as a museum during the first Round Barn Festival in 1971. Vada Quackenbush was president of the Prill School Museum Association1973 to 2010. At first PSMA leased the building but in 2000 it was deeded to the Association by the Henry Township Trustee. Since Quackenbush’s illness and death in 2010, PSMA membership has dropped to zero and funds have run out.
Since 1971, Prill School Museum has been an educational jewel in rural Henry Township. It was restored and furnished with items donated by the public spearheaded by Dewey Zolman, who with Chester Utter did most of the work. Both Zolman and Utter had been pupils there in early 1900s.
Monthly programs, mock school sessions and school tours kept Prill School active.
Membership in the association has dropped to zero. When Quackenbush passed away, it fell to the vice president, Sandy Parker Gunnels, who worked as Rochester Chamber of Commerce secretary. Now retired, Gunnels uses a wheelchair. She tried to get people to take over and continue the school museum programs but because of their age, health and other responsibilities, no person nor group has stepped forward. Gunnels reports the liability insurance has been canceled because the Association is out of money.
The building needs repairs and restoration. Immediate needs are the ceiling is cracked, one broken window, glass is broken in a display case, and the door needs to be replaced as it has been broken into several times. Pete Terpstra repaired the door many times but he has died too.
A couple of times Vada considered moving the school to the Fulton County Historical Society grounds but that proved financially impossible.
Some people today want it moved to the museum grounds because it would be protected and would be seen by many more people. The Prill School Museum Association could still have meetings and programs there, similar to the blacksmiths that meet monthly in the blacksmith shop there. However, the PSMA would need to be financially responsible for raising funds to move it and to keep it in repair. FCHS does not have sufficient income to take care of it.
Today, Prill School is brought to life three times a year: in the fall by the Home Schoolers, in the spring by Akron fourth-grade teachers, and for tours during the three-day Round Barn Festival in June.
If you feel that Prill School should be saved, call Shirley Willard at 574-223-2352 or Janet Vigar at 574-505-0388. Willard is the Fulton County historian, appointed by the Indiana Historical Society. Vigar lives near the school, having grown up on the farm where the school stands.
Better yet, come to the meeting and volunteer to help. This is a chance for you to be creative and help the community.
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It is in need of repair, members and volunteers to take care of it.
A meeting at Prill School will be Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. to discuss ways to save the one-room schoolhouse. The public is invited to bring their ideas.
The public will be able to see the old desks, stove and antique items that made up a one-room school like those your ancestors attended. You can see what needs to be done to repair the building. The goal is find some people willing to serve as officers of the Prill School Museum Association, owner of the building.
Prill School was opened as a museum during the first Round Barn Festival in 1971. Vada Quackenbush was president of the Prill School Museum Association1973 to 2010. At first PSMA leased the building but in 2000 it was deeded to the Association by the Henry Township Trustee. Since Quackenbush’s illness and death in 2010, PSMA membership has dropped to zero and funds have run out.
Since 1971, Prill School Museum has been an educational jewel in rural Henry Township. It was restored and furnished with items donated by the public spearheaded by Dewey Zolman, who with Chester Utter did most of the work. Both Zolman and Utter had been pupils there in early 1900s.
Monthly programs, mock school sessions and school tours kept Prill School active.
Membership in the association has dropped to zero. When Quackenbush passed away, it fell to the vice president, Sandy Parker Gunnels, who worked as Rochester Chamber of Commerce secretary. Now retired, Gunnels uses a wheelchair. She tried to get people to take over and continue the school museum programs but because of their age, health and other responsibilities, no person nor group has stepped forward. Gunnels reports the liability insurance has been canceled because the Association is out of money.
The building needs repairs and restoration. Immediate needs are the ceiling is cracked, one broken window, glass is broken in a display case, and the door needs to be replaced as it has been broken into several times. Pete Terpstra repaired the door many times but he has died too.
A couple of times Vada considered moving the school to the Fulton County Historical Society grounds but that proved financially impossible.
Some people today want it moved to the museum grounds because it would be protected and would be seen by many more people. The Prill School Museum Association could still have meetings and programs there, similar to the blacksmiths that meet monthly in the blacksmith shop there. However, the PSMA would need to be financially responsible for raising funds to move it and to keep it in repair. FCHS does not have sufficient income to take care of it.
Today, Prill School is brought to life three times a year: in the fall by the Home Schoolers, in the spring by Akron fourth-grade teachers, and for tours during the three-day Round Barn Festival in June.
If you feel that Prill School should be saved, call Shirley Willard at 574-223-2352 or Janet Vigar at 574-505-0388. Willard is the Fulton County historian, appointed by the Indiana Historical Society. Vigar lives near the school, having grown up on the farm where the school stands.
Better yet, come to the meeting and volunteer to help. This is a chance for you to be creative and help the community.
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