Sun Prairie Historical Society, Inc.July 2026  Board Report Message from the Board PresidentWe've had some pretty successful events this spring and early summer, celebrating Sun Prairie and keeping the Crosse House a vibrant and active part of Sun Prairie's downtown. Our Historical Trivia, hosted at Eddie's in April, turned out a crowd, who had a great time answering some challenging trivia hosted by our board members. We participated in the downtown Wine Walk in early May, bringing in visitors new and old to see our historic home and headquarters. We had fun dressing the part for the Back to the '80's theme - 1980's and 1880's alike! We hosted a small, intimate house concert for Mile of Music regular Beth Bombara in the middle of May, and in June we hosted our annual Garden and Art Show, which you can read more about below. In August, we'll be hosting the Crosse House Restoration 50th Anniversary Celebration. It's hard to believe that it's been half a century since ten Sun Prairie residents gathered together to save and restore the Crosse House. We'll have ice cream, plant a commemorative tree, and celebrate the work that's been done before us and the rededicate ourselves to the work ahead. I hope you'll join us! It truly is an honor to take a turn as the president of this Historical Society, with members who are so dedicated to preserving and celebrating the history of Dane County's most interesting little town. Thank you for your continued support, your volunteerism, and your dedication to Sun Prairie and its history. -Alex Roberson   Garden and Art Show Brings 160 Visitors to the Crosse HouseOver the weekend of June 26 and 27th, our city celebrated the Sun Prairie Garden Club Tour and Sun Prairie Mural Fest. In conjunction with both events, the Historical Society opened our house to local artists who displayed their works of art, and invited guests to view our famous and beautiful garden - planned and kept up primarily by member Marilyn Stier (who will hate that I am so publicly giving her praise). We tabled at the downtown Farmer's Market, and Board Member Kristin Teston handed out face-painting "coupons" for children to get their faces painted back at the Crosse House. Those kids kept member Lynn Belanger busy painting rainbows, alligators, and butterflies! The line for Lynn's art wrapped around the porch, and while they waited, children were able to make their own art with Crosse House coloring pages, and learn about Sun Prairie's most famous artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, by reading from our small collection of children's books about her life and work. By the time it was all said and done, 160 folks had stopped by the Crosse House to view our gardens, our house, our local artists, and have a fun Saturday morning with their children. A big thank you to all our volunteers who made it possible!    Join the Crosse House Restoration 50th Anniversary Celebration on August 22, 2026, 11am to 3pm On August 9, 1976, ten Sun Prairie historical enthusiasts gathered together to form Sun Prairie Historical Restorations, Inc. to “restore, preserve, and administrate the Crosse House, and to preserve, protect, and restore any improvement within Sun Prairie which has a special character or special historic interest or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of Sun Prairie.” On Saturday, August 22, 2026 from 11am to 3pm at the Crosse House, we will celebrate 50 years of restoration our this historic home, and the work of the all those folks who made it possible. We will have ice cream, plant a commemorative tree, and we'll rededicate ourselves to the work of preserving the Crosse House for the next fifty years for future Sun Prairie residents and guests. We'll hope you'll join us! In addition to the celebration on August 22, Mayor Stocker will bring forth a mayoral proclamation, tentatively at the August 4 meeting of the Common Council, recognizing and celebrating this half a decade worth of work and the commitment of all responsible for it's success. Historical Society members will receive a reminder by mail about this event.  Upcoming EventsCrosse House Restoration 50th Anniversary Celebration |
