NEWSLETTER 

AURORA COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OCTOBER / NOVEMBER, 2002

30th Annual Quilt Show Theme is "Baskets Galore"

"Baskets Galore" is the theme of the 30th Annual Quilt show, presented by the Old Aurora Colony Quilters and benefiting the Aurora Colony Historical Society, from October 9-13, 2002 at the Museum. The show runs from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM each day.

Approximately 140 quilts, some of which will be for sale, will be on display throughout the five-building Museum complex. Some are from ACHS' collection of Colony items; many more will be on loan from private collections, with creation dates ranging from 1850 to 2002. Where the historical provenance of the quilt is known, it will be displayed.

This year's featured quilter is appliqué expert Joy Nichols, who will make scheduled demonstrations in the museum's historic Kraus House.

The Quilt Show is one of the biggest events on Aurora Colony Historical Society's calendar. The show usually draws about 1000 people to the Museum in its five-day run.

A Quilt Block Contest is part of every year's show, and the winning quilt blocks are made into next year's raffle quilt. The "Baskets Galore" quilt will be raffled at the conclusion of this year's show, and extra blocks from the contest usually become quilts which are sold at the ACHS auction in the spring.

This year's Quilt Block Contest theme (and the theme of next year's show) is Americana. Phone the Museum (503-678-5754) or Quilt Show coordinator Charlotte Wirfs (503-678-2837) for contest information. Judging of the Block Contest will take place Saturday, October 12, and the 20 winning blocks will be displayed on Sunday, October 13.

The entire five-building Museum complex, at the corner of 2nd and Liberty in Aurora, will be open for the event. The Aurora Colony Handspinners Guild will offer spinning and crafts demonstrations; the Old Time Fiddlers will provide music Saturday and Sunday from noon until 4:00 PM; and as always, coffee and cookies will be available in the 1876 Steinbach Log Cabin.

Admission is $3.50 for adults, $3.00 for seniors and AAA, and $2.00 for children.

ACHS Website Gets New Look, New Address on Internet

The Aurora Colony Historical Society can be found on the Internet at a new address: www.auroracolonymuseum.com.

The new website incorporates the content of the previous site, and includes new features, contact information, etc. that will change over time. It is meant to serve as an up-to-date source of information about ACHS and its activities.

Members and friends are encouraged to visit the new site often - and add it to their list of browser favorites!

ACHS Website Attracts Bethel Keil Descendant

ACHS recently received an email contact from Sherrill Keil Lines of Belton, Missouri, a descendant of Keil family members who remained in Bethel rather than joining the treks to Aurora in 1856 or 1862.

"My great-great-great grandfather was Wilhelm Keil, but my side of the family remained in Missouri. August, Wilhelm's son, married Rosina Forstner (daughter of George Forstner and Julia Ziegler, ex-Rappites) and they stayed at Bethel to raise their children. My great-grandfather, Frederick William Keil, was born at Elim in Bethel."

"My father, Frederick A. Keil, also lives in Missouri and has met his cousin, Edna Atwood, on a trip to Aurora several years ago. We had no idea that August's brother Frederick had family in Oregon, so we were all pleasantly surprised."

Sherrill has been collecting any information about Bethel and Aurora that she can find -- whether it relates directly to her family or not. Her email address is lines611@aol.com, and she would be glad to hear from anyone with stories about Aurora or Bethel.

Donations to ACHS Gratefully Acknowledged

• Anonymous donation of $500 toward purchase of Colony Band music;

• Ann Keddie -Purchase of wine for Art Exhibit reception;

• John Herman, Mike & Kate Byrnes, Hal & Shirley Will - cash donations in memory of Velma Scholl;

• Mike & Kate Byrnes - cash donation in memory of Rick Reid and Kathryn Gray Met;

• Patrick Harris - framed photos of the Will Bros. Bazaar and Will-Snyder Store;

• Karen Stephens - two photo album/scrapbooks of the 1993 Oregon Trail wagon trip;

• Ruthanna Warnock - 1898 baby coat and three hand woven towels;

• Doug Silbernagel - cash donation;

• Virginia Clare - Old German needlepoint book;

• Mike Byrnes - Colony table, trunk, drying racks, churns, and wheat flayer.

"Art & Artists" Show Surprises With Variety

"Art & Artists of Aurora" was the title of the display which ran from August 1 to September 29, 2002, at the Old Aurora Colony Museum.

Approximately 129 works, by 31 artists, filled the walls and display cases. A few pieces were from the Museum's collection; however, 26 individuals loaned items from their private collections for this display.

The exhibit contained fresh looks at familiar scenes, but aside from the high caliber of everything on display, it was difficult to draw generalizations. The architectural paintings were noteworthy, as were some of the works done from photographs. The late Amanda Snyder, one of Aurora's well-known artists, worked in a variety of media and apparently did art with whatever she could get her hands on: one of her hand painted Colony chairs and a rag rug were displayed along with woodcuts and some oil paintings. But who could have predicted Bertha Stark's hand painted china, which she carried back and forth from Portland on a Greyhound bus between firings?

Oil paintings dominated in sheer number, outside of the pen-and-ink works of Colony subjects by Clark Moor Will, but painted silk scarves, pottery and Raku sculpture, hand-painted china, a braided rug, and a painted chair were also on display. Larry Townsend found a way to display the works to their best advantage.

Some of the artwork was for sale, and 10% of the sale price benefited the Museum.

The Art Exhibit Committee was chaired by Mary Ann Moore and Ann Keddie.

Members-at-large included Virginia Clare, Bob Higgins, Dominique Lamssies, Ellen McCloskey, Christine Thomas-Flitcroft, Larry Townsend, Charlotte Wirfs, and Zane and Vera Yoder.

Velma Scholl Bequest Adds $50,000 To ACHS Coffers

By Robin Will

Velma Scholl

Velma Scholl's $50,000 bequest to Aurora Colony Historical Society wasn't particularly surprising, although the amount was certainly impressive. Velma, who died in April, 2002, about halfway through her 99th year, supported historical preservation efforts in Aurora long before there was a historical society.

Nonetheless, there was an element of surprise for most us at Velma's memorial service and in the days since. It is safe to say that nobody there was completely aware of the scope of this remarkable woman's accomplishments.

In part, Velma's longevity was to blame for that. Most of us at the memorial were not alive when Velma became the first woman to graduate from University of Oregon's School of Business, and then the first woman to take Master's degree there. We probably weren't watching the business pages from the 1920s to the mid-'60s when the entire world was being introduced to Jantzen swimwear, in part through the efforts of Jantzen's director of International Marketing, Velma Scholl. We weren't around to meet the globetrotting, mountain-climbing, business-executive Velma.

In any case, we weren't likely to hear about those things from Velma. She found everything -- literally everything -- more interesting, and steered conversation away from herself. She was interested in what we were doing. And she worked quietly, persistently and effectively with her resources and her energy at causes that were dear to her: education, local history, and the environment, to name a few.

Information came in bits and pieces as friends rose to speak at the memorial service at Mt. Angel.

There was a nursing scholarship in place at University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, funded by Velma. "That had been going on for years -- I can't begin to tell you how many," said Dorothy Scholl Ross, Velma's sister. Dorothy is 88 years old, and when she says a long time, she means a long time.

There was the matter of Hubbard's historical society. Velma felt strongly that Hubbard, the home of her material grandparents George and Otillia Will Wolfer after the dissolution of the Aurora Colony, should be aware of its beginnings. Velma shared her energy and her recollections, and information from her personal historic archive -- the attic of the Scholl family home in Hubbard. In addition, a street and a local parkway carry historic family names at least in part through Velma's efforts.

A Mennonite minister rose to speak. Velma had been involved in a peace studies program through his church, and at that very moment there was a peace worker in Chile due to the generosity of Velma Scholl.

There was more. "I was surprised when we read her will," said Dorothy. "She was supporting things I had never even heard of, mainly environmental things." Velma was a member of the Mazamas, a mountain climbing group in Portland. She was an avid hiker for as long as she was able, and she supported a variety of environmental causes.

The personal reminiscences were informative. A number of local historians found the answers to perplexing questions in the archives in Velma's attic. "I might be able to help you with that," she would say, and come back with the exact thing we were looking for -- or something even better. Velma's dandelion wine received more than one mention. It seems to have been consistently good over many years. And Frank Shields, Velma's nephew, recalled that she showed him how to witch for water.

Thanks to Velma and Dorothy, a great many Wolfer-Will-Scholl family artifacts are now property of Aurora Colony Historical Society, including letters home from college and items from the career of a woman who was a high-powered business executive at an age, and in a time, when it wasn't considered proper for her to be living on her own. (She boarded with her great-uncle and aunt, E. U. and Maggie Will for her first years in Portland.) Other items, including some of interest to students of the Jantzen company, found a home at Oregon Historical Society.

The cash bequest to Aurora Colony Historical Society was without stipulation. Velma was a practical person, and she trusted the Board of Directors to make practical use of the gift.

Leonard Wolfer Celebrates 90th Birthday

City, Chamber Join ACHS in 9/11 Remembrance

The Aurora Colony Historical Society, the City of Aurora and the Aurora Chamber of Commerce joined efforts in remembrance of September 11, 2001.

The Museum complex was open until 7PM without admission charge, and refreshments were served. 

Aurora police, reservists, and volunteer firemen stopped by as they were available. Two police cars and a fire truck were at the Museum when they weren't required elsewhere, and Aurora's mayor and three city council members attended.

Staff counted between 70 and 80 people visitors during the afternoon and evening, ten or more times the size of a normal weekday crowd. Some were visitors to Aurora; some were community members who had never before been in the Museum.

"We felt it was important to do something to observe the anniversary," said Executive Director Joan Jacobs, "and to give the community somewhere to gather."

"It turned out to be a good thing to do," she continued, adding that she had enjoyed meeting the people who attended, and had made some new friends in the community.

Colony Descendant Edits ACHS Newsletter

Robin Will, at 2001 Will Clan Reunion. Photo by Reina Bustamente

Robin Will, a descendant of the family which arrived in Aurora in the 1862 emigration, is editor of Aurora Colony Historical Society's newsletter and is responsible for much of the content of the society's website, auroracolonymuseum.com.

He never lived farther than 50 miles from Aurora, never visited the town, and aside from a few childhood encounters, never had any contact with other members of the Will family until his 47th year.

"Death, divorce, contentiousness -- the usual things," Robin says, "isolated our branch of the family."

In 1995, Robin, his sister, Kris Will McLaughlin and Kris' daughter Kerry, decided to attend a Will Family Reunion if they could find out when and where it was held. A cousin referred them to Shirley Will Hall, a cousin once removed, who remembered Robin as a child and was able to provide the necessary information.

From that time, involvement has been progressive. Robin is now President of the Will Clan. He produced his first newsletter for ACHS in January, 1997, and he created the first ACHS website in December of 2000.

Robin works in the printing-management end of a local publishing company. He is in the process of renovating a 1906 house in St. Johns (North Portland) which he shares with a Golden Labrador Retriever named Elvis. Hiking, photography and traditional music occupy his spare time.