The Princeton Historical Society is steaming ahead on Phase 2 of the renovation of the Folklore
Museum. The Princeton Chamber of Commerce pledged to match up to $5000 in donations to
the Phase 2 renovation fund to help speed things along so the group can reach their goal of
opening the second half of the museum for the public during the 175th celebration.
Jim Frasier, Museum Director, said at this point, “our fundraising doesn’t tie into anything in
particular. Our main focus is to get this job done and get it done well. We have very excellent
retired builders that are coming in and spending days here as a donation and for the love of the
museum. This museum means a lot to people, and we are hoping to raise approximately $40,000
more to complete the project.”
One way that people can contribute to the Phase 2 renovation fund is to attend the Beerbellys
Meat Raffle being held on Saturday, February 25 at 1:30 p.m. If you are interested in
contributing money, skills, or artifacts to Phase 2 renovation contact the Princeton Historical
Society at princetonhistsociety@gmail.com or 920-295-9008. You may also contact Vickie
Wielgosh at 920-291-5434.
A recent election of board members at the Princeton Historical Society has resulted in Mike
Goulet as President, Jim Frasier as Vice President and Museum Director, Chris Frasier as
Treasurer, Laura Skalitzky as Secretary, and Vickie Wielgosh as Phase 2 Renovation Chairwoman. Goulet said, “It is nice to have a great group of dedicated people. I’ve only been a member for two years and they have been keeping this historical society going over the years. It is so nice to be involved with such dedicated people to tell the history of Princeton.”
“I really appreciate the support of the community and the chamber to help us fund the renovation. It’s great to have the support of those in the PHS but to have the support of the entire community to help make a museum for the City of Princeton.”
One excellent resource available to Jim Frasier as he and Wielgosh plan out the renovations has been the digitized newspaper archives made available this past year by a combined effort from many people and organizations.
Princeton had six newspapers over the years. The digitized scans include editions from the Green Lake County Democrat 1879-1885, the Princeton Republic 1867-1937, the Princeton Republic-Star 1905-1906, the Princeton Star 1902-1905, the Princeton Times 1935-1937, and the
Princeton Times-Republic 1937-1993. To see them, go https://archives.winnefox.org.
