An attraction during Freeport’s Homecoming Saturday is a tour of the Freeport Museum and meeting its founder, Deloris Dipp, Grand Marshal in the Homecoming Parade.
What follows is all about the Freeport Museum from Colleen Smelker, secretary of the society:
“Noting all of Freeport’s history and knowing most all of residents and their children, Deloris Dipp decided to start a historical society in the village in 1999. She attended council meetings, put ads in the Freeport News every week, made phone calls and went door to door, and soon found enough people interested in keeping our town’s history preserved for future generations.
“The new group started having monthly meetings and going on fun outings to the old dump and found many treasurers, like old bottles and children's steel toys. The group also went to private owned burial sites.
“Elections of officers took place with Deloris made president, became incorporated, were classified as a 'small tax-exempt business' by the IRS because they net less than $ 50,000 a year.
“Up until recently, Deloris had always been president of the Freeport Historical Society and she still helps in many ways by offering her input and sharing a wealth of information on our local history. We thank her for having a vision of a museum 20 years ago and the persistence and drive to follow through with this dream to keep the local history alive for future generations to enjoy.
“The museum found its present home in the local Masonic Lodge building, thanks to Allie Smith and many others. Around 2002, we received display cases from the Barry County Fair.
“Then, the citizens of Freeport started showering us with all sorts of items, from Freeport high school letter sweaters to corn shellers. Our first item received was a pair of ice skates that belonged to Sam Roush, one of Freeport’s founders. We have inventoried 3,500 items.
“This year marks the museum's 20th anniversary and we're proud to say it is still self-supporting. Every year we have a fund raiser to help pay the bills. We started out selling post cards of old Freeport and they always went over big in the community.
“We've had a soup supper, a pancake supper, a beef and noodle supper, made and sold yard swings for several years, raffled off half of hog donated by John Loftus, held Mother's Day luncheons, a quilt raffles and we boast on having the first few big bale rolling contests down main street during homecoming.
“Most recently, last year our “Ladies of Freeport History & Recipe Book # 1” came out and was a big success. This spring our second ladies book came out and is available to the public. Each book has 100 area women with their story.
“Requirements are the lady has to be from the Freeport area and be deceased. We tell where she was born, her parents, including her mother's maiden name, her siblings, where she went to school, her husband, children, where she lived, her likes and hobbies.
Organizations she belonged to, her final resting place, a photo, and for fun, one of her recipes.
“In 2020 and 2021 we will be making Freeport men's history books, with 100 men in each book. Instead of recipes, we will have photos of the men with their trophy buck or fish, sports car or team of horses, speed boat, with their John Deere tractor, in front of their store, or in their army uniform; the options are endless.
The same qualifications apply for the men; they need to be from the Freeport area and are deceased.
“If you have a loved one you would like in one of the books, call Colleen at 616-765-8481 or visit the museum on work bee on Wednesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Our e-mail is Freeport127@gmail.com for more information or to schedule a tour.
“The museum has many ideas in mind for future projects. One is to collect all of the Freeport students who graduated from Thornapple Kellogg High School from 1962 to present. “We're always looking for old pictures of Freeport, homecomings, businesses, inside and out, farm scenes, family reunions, one-room school pictures, anything to do with Freeport.
“We'll scan your photo into the computer and gave your photo right back to you while you wait.
“There's been a lot of excitement around the country about the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote coming up next year and we're hoping our town will participate in this historic event.
“Let us know if you want to be part of organizing this fun event.
Anyone interested in joining, come on down, we could use your help.”
“Deloris Dipp is responsible for getting this whole thing started and we're so thankful to her. The museum is such a fun place to visit and see the old graduation photos and all the old farm equipment, thousands of items right from the Freeport area.”
