The Dakotaland Museum Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the museum was awarded a $400 grant from the Association of South Dakota Museums. The grant, one of five awards, was announced at the ASDM Annual Conference held at the Western Heritage Center in Spearfish Oct. 8-10.

The meeting of museum professionals included several workshops and a training event.

Executive Director Louise Van Poll gave a PowerPoint presentation, A History of the State Fair. Van Poll is also on the ASDM Board of Directors.

During the annual meeting, Van Poll offered a bid for the Dakotaland Museum to host the 2024 conference in Huron, which was accepted.

“It will be great to bring these people from across the state to Huron,” said Van Poll. “This year we had someone from Wyoming and next year we will be inviting museums in North Dakota, too.”

The Centennial Stone Church Center was acquired with the purpose of consolidating all the museum archives in the basement. This has required merging collections from different locations and different filing systems. The ASDM grant money will be used to purchase archival-quality materials used to enclose and protect photos and documents as well as supplies for filing the items.

“By bringing the archives together, we will finally have everything under one roof for easy access for staff and researchers,” explained Van Poll. “It will also make our archives available to the community year-round. They will be in a climate-controlled building where we can monitor temperature and humidity. This will further our mission of collecting and preserving these collections and making them available for the public.”

Van Poll is available to give her State Fair PowerPoint presentation to interested groups. Call 605-352-2528 for more information.