Despite the fact that we haven’t had a lot of posts on our website of late, the Museum was very busy in the year 2016.  Some of those events were:

We published our annual Lovell-Kane Area Museum Newsletter: “Bridging the Past to the Future” 2016. Museum efforts and goals were outlined in our Spring newsletter.

The Great Western Sugar Factory celebrated its 100 year celebration in June 2016. The Museum worked with the sugar factory to showcase artifacts /items in their display window at Queen Bee Gardens on Main Street.

The Kane/Ionia Cemetery Cleanup was planned for June 2016. This annual opportunity to do some weeding and sprucing up of the cemetery has been supported and sustained by the efforts of a several dedicated Museum supporters.

The museum was open through the summer for all to drop in and visit. The afternoons were staffed by members of the Museum Board- Monday through Fridays from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Thank you to all who were willing volunteers.

The Kane Bus Tour: We had a very successful bus tour in October of 2016. We were able to presell tickets and fill up the bus we rented. Karen Spragg did an excellent job recounting the stories of the area.

Our Annual Museum Fundraiser was a big success in October of 2016. The High Country Cowboys of Red Lodge performed and were so delightful. An auction was held, and additionally a silent auction. Bumblebee Soup Designs provided amazing decorations for the event and for every table. A wonderful dinner was provided as well as a cash bar. We were so happy with the positive response from everyone who attended and for the support of many who were unable to attend. The Museum is very grateful for the continuing support of so many people, both near and far.

Halloween: The Museum joined the other businesses of Lovell in handing out candy to kids for the annual Halloween event. Western Sugar was one source of donated candy. Other individual citizens also generously gave us candy to share.

2017 Calendars: The Lovell-Kane Area Museum Calendar “Preserving the Past for Future Generations” was produced and sold as another fundraising effort. Through the diligent efforts of Sharie and Karen to find and reproduced old photos and advertisements, the 2017 calendar featured black and white photos of Lovell Businesses from the past. Slogans, advertisements, logos were also cleverly included with those businesses. Our calendars sold like hotcakes! What a fun way to walk down memory lane and honor Lovell’s past!

Throughout the year many individuals have graciously donated items to the museum. We are very excited to be able to share these items with you.

The Lovell-Kane Area Museum’s Annual Kane Bus Tour was held Saturday, September 26th! Participants met at the Big Horn Visitor Center, National Park Service on Hwy 14A at 10.00 a.m.

This 4 hour tour visited the town site of Kane, the M L Ranch, John Blue’s Cabin, andthe Kane/Ionia Cemetery.  The Museum was able to rent a school bus to accommodate the participants.  Linda Hitz drove the bus.  Karen Spragg served as tour guide.  Booklets with photos of previous inhabitants were used to picture “what used to be” in Kane.  Karen told stories and identified specific locations and activities.

Karen Spragg addresses the group at the ML Ranch.

The John Blue Cabin was a favorite stop on the tour.

The group stopped at the Kane/Ionia Cemetery.  Karen demonstrates dowsing– the use of a water witching rod.  Dowsing is the action of a person–called the dowser–using a rod, stick, … rod, or pendulum–to locate such things as underground water, hidden metal, buried treasure, etc.

The day was hotter than we expected.  However, the group enjoyed seeing and hearing about these historic sites.  Thanks to everyone who assisted and attended another great Kane Bus Tour.  And thanks to Karen Spragg for her untiring efforts and devotion in making this tour possible.

The board would like to welcome Shari Loegering and Dawn Hoffman as new museum board members. Both Shari and Dawn have been advocates of the development of the Lovell-Kane Area Museum and have given us a lot of support and encouragement.

Welcome Shari and Dawn.  We are looking forward to your input and participation.  Thank you for volunteering to help us with the growth and development of our museum.

The annual Kane Bus Tour is coming up.  It will be Saturday, September 26. Put it on your calendar. Come and join us.

The Kane bus tour visits the town of Kane, the ML Ranch, John Blue’s place, and the cemetery.  It is a bus tour unlike any you have every been on.  You can expect information about Kane and  some of its interesting characters, and the best part of the tour is the sharing of personal stories and memories of Kane.  One  person commented: “You can still feel the community pride and sadness for the loss of homes.”

Reservations required, a limited number of spaces are available.  The cost is $15 per person.  Contact Karen Spragg or the museum to sign up.

We will have posters and flyers with more specific information out soon.  Watch for them.

At a recent board meeting, Christy Fleming, one of our board members announced her resignation. Christy has worked very hard with the museum. She has a full workload with the National Park Service and has given generously of her free time in service to the development  of a local museum.  When I asked Karen Spragg how long Christy had served on the board, she said — “Oh, since the very beginning.  In fact, it was Christy who told me I should put a museum together.”  Together, Karen and Christy visited many of the area museums to see how other communities had set theirs up.

The board would like to thank Christy Fleming for her almost 5 years of dedication, and encouragement.  Her experience with the Homesteader Museum in Powell and her knowledge has been such a tremendous help to us.  Ever the optimist, Christy has generously supported and assisted the board in its efforts to establish a local museum.

Christy, we will certainly miss you.  Thanks to you for all your hard work and service to the Lovell-Kane Area Museum.

The first week of July Karen Spragg received a phone call from Kris Olmsted of Spectra Energy.  Kris is the Administrative Assistant for the Northern District and works out of Spectra’s Powell office.  Annually Spectra Energy chooses to donate to  several communities in Montana and Wyoming.  This year the Lovell-Kane Area Museum was chosen as one of 3 recipients!  What a nice surprise!

On Wednesday, July 8, 2015 Kris Olmsted met with Karen Spragg, Peggy Snell, and Rich Fink at the museum in Lovell.  She presented the museum with a check in the amount of $1000 in recognition and appreciation of the efforts to establish a local museum.  In her letter she stated: “We applaud the good work you do each and every day for the community.”

A big thank you to Spectra Energy.  We will put this money to good use in improvements to our museum.  We so appreciate your support and kind words.