Denver Raises Funds for Schoolhouse at Spring Fling

Around 35 people attended the kids games for the Denver Spring Fling and others attended the dinner afterwards Saturday afternoon. Rains that had threatened in the morning moved out of the area by the afternoon, enabling the hunt to go forward.
The Denver Schoolhouse project is moving forward. LaDora Combs donated her genealogical library to the museum; it has many resources from out of the state as well as in-state resources. There is now a whole wing of the museum that is dedicated to genealogical resources as well as a copy of the 1940 census records for both Allen and Smith Townships. There is also a microfilm reader as well as old plat maps. People can come to the museum by appointment; for an appointment, contact a Denver CBC member. There are also a lot of obituaries, family trees, and pictures.
Three sides of the schoolhouse have been painted and the south side will be painted this summer. Next, work on the guttering will be done followed by starting on work on the inside of the building. The upstairs will be used for a model classroom and one idea is to bring students from the school there to see what it was like to learn in such an environment. There will be another wing that will be used for storage. The bottom will consist of the genealogical room as well as a community room.
The Denver CBC is still getting donations for the project and they are selling t-shirts and calendars as well as plants and other stuff. The project is entirely funded through private donations as well as a $400 grant from GRM. They are selling reproductions of the Denver Cookbook as well.
Brenda Abplanalp of the CBC said that she thought there would be a lot of people there over Memorial Day weekend to do genealogical research.
Throughout the dinner, F.C. Grace Jr., son of the late F.C. Grace, kept folks entertained with his stories about the old schoolhouse, his dad’s business, and playing baseball and riding horses. Following the dinner, the CBC auctioned off some plants to raise funds for the schoolhouse.
Among those who attended were Jeanine Grass, Diana Reynolds, Amy Huffstutlar, Helen Ridge Foster, Doug Combs, Ross and LaDora Combs, Nick and Brenda Abplanalp, Lavon (Sweeney) Smith, Austin Findley, Stephanie King, Lowell and Pat Houts, Jane and Brad Gabriel, Jacy, Trent, Reid, and Avery, Matt Mincy, Ted and Barbara Findley, Nory Reneman, Avis Parman, Tammy Ueligger, Lily Ueligger, F.C. & Karen Garce, Annisa Justice, Dave, and Cole, Adam and Rhonda Palmer, Dallas and Jackie Findley, Keith and Debra Younger, Dan and Louise Summa, Dominique Findley, J.C. & Pam Parman, Gary and Roberta Owens, and Jack Hawk.