Pine Mill News Friends of the Pine Creek Grist Mill Summer 2014 Issue President’s Column By Tom Hanifan Since the last newsletter we have re- ceived major donations from Agnes Digney, Elizabeth Brown, Mark & Chris Post, Butch Arp, Richard Maeglin, Susan Sargent, Sue & Our excellent interpretive staff has Presidents Column Larry Koehrsen, Weldon Roechear, Diana been busy. We had the 2nd highest number of Gradert, Helen Roelle, and Don Paul. Cover May visitors ever – 1186. June attendance broke a record - 1644. We can always use more volunteers. Restoration Report Do you know of anyone who is interested in 812 children, parents and teachers helping with events? Anyone who is interested Page 2 came for field trips in May. We love it when in restoring the mill? Who would like to help teachers bring classes for a day of learning. rebuild the log cabin? No matter what your skill School Field Trips Our school program combines fun with learn- set is, we have a job for you. Besides support- Page 3 ing about history and nature. That's what ing Pine Mill, you are going to have fun! You hands-on interactive learning is all about. Our can put in just as much or as little time as you spring field trips are a popular learning experi- want. If you are interested in volunteering, Flash Floods on ence with area teachers. This year we had contact one of our officers. Pine Creek schools from the Muscatine area, Davenport Page 4 & 5 and Iowa City, including home school groups. Their enthusiasm and interest in learning The Kohl’s Department Stores in Moline made our efforts worthwhile. and Davenport came again in May to help us Kalona’s Bunker Mill clean and prepare for visitors. This is a huge Page 6 Donors have stepped up again. With- job and they enjoy doing it. They also leave us out donors we would not have an interpreta- with an important donation. The Sawmill Museum tion program. We thank these corporate donors who have contributed since the last Work continues on rebuilding the Page 7 newsletter: Kohls Stores and Alliant Energy. 1850’s log cabin. More volunteers are needed. We have also received a major grant from the If you can help call Gary Christiansen at 264- Opportunities Community Foundation of Muscatine. 1499. Page 8 We appreciate donations from fami- We are looking for a few bushels of ear lies and individuals. There are too many to list corn to run through the mill during demonstra- Race Poster here. tions. Do you know of a source? Call Tom at Page 9 563-263-4818. We have had some in- Heritage Day Poster teresting visitors lately. The mill Page 10 was recently visited by the editor of Our Iowa Magazine. We hope to see an article about the mill in Fund Raising this magazine. We were also Page 11 visited by Sue (Brei) Snyder who grew up in the log cabin that we Mill Meetings: are restoring. She left us with many memories. 9:00 AM the 2ⁿ� Saturday each month Our annual Ghosts of Pine Creek family night of history will be held Friday night Oct 10th Check our web page 7-8 PM. for dates and locations every Kolh’s Department Store Volunteers month. Restoration Report By David Metz Flash floods on Pine Creek are With some trepidation I unlocked nothing new; the creek has a long the mill and turned the lights on so I history of them as will be related later could inspect the basement. Not in this newsletter. I have volunteered surprisingly I found the basement floor at the mill since 2001 and I have seen had a thick coating of slimy mud. Some what I thought were amazing amounts items like the wood signs and benches Limbs thrown onto the bridge by the of water going over the dam many had been knocked over and a couple of th flood. The park staff quickly repaired times. On Monday July 7 Muscatine floor boards dislodged. The basement the bridge. County got six inches of rain. I was a slippery mess and the building suspected that the creek would be in was making strange creaking noises full flood so the next morning I went out that I had never heard before. to the mill to check on it at 7:30AM. Thankfully the damage to the mil was slight other than the mud all over the Normally the restoration crew works floor. at the mill every Tuesday. After Monday’s rain we had canceled work To keep visitors safe the Friends as each of us had issues at home to closed off the basement for tours until deal with caused by the heavy rain. the mud could be cleaned up. During When I got to the mill the water level the weekend Jim Ohl the park manager had already dropped. The first thing I hosed the basement down and fixed the saw were two large tree limbs sitting on hole in the mill wall. Jim got the bulk of the deck of the bridge. One panel of the mud washed out and things looked Floor boards dislodged in the mill’s the railing had been broken free and lay vastly better after he cleaned it up basement by the flood water. on the bridge deck with the limbs. Since (thanks Jim!). the water did not reach the bridge deck my only thought on how the limbs got The next Tuesday the where they were is that they must have restoration crew was back at the mill been pitched up there by the turbulent with some extra volunteer help to put water. the finishing touches on the clean up. We had three volunteers from Families, On the creek side of the mill the Inc. a social services firm that sent two water had torn off some siding in an adult supervisors and one teenage area about ten by five feet near the worker. Butch Arp who does the foundation. Something, perhaps a announcing at Heritage Day came to floating limb, had punched a hole about help and we all got to work. a foot square in the side of the mill right below the window that is next to the The volunteers got to work right The damaged basement window, below door that overlooks the creek. away cleaning up the flood debris that it the hole that flood debris punched in had accumulated outside the south the mill wall. Above the dam is the penstock gate boiler room door. So much had piled operating structure. After seeing it get up there that the door could not be smashed by ice coming down Pine opened. Outside Jerry Kieth and Butch Creek many times we removed most of Arp removed the gate operating rod and it this spring and left just the operating repaired it. Clarence Klauer and I rod in place. During the flash flood the worked in the basement. Just so I could steel rod caught an amazing amount of say we got something new done I had grass that got washed down the creek. Frank Kelly fabricate two new “Do Not The grass gave us a pretty good Tamper” signs for the mill that the indication that there had been at least interpretive staff had requested. four feet of water going over the dam at the floods highest point. The grass built Even though all the mud had up to about a foot in diameter around been washed from the floors before we the rod and the increased drag bent the started there still remained mud Some of the mill’s siding was torn off by operating rod into a “C” shape! splatters on the walls and mill the flood water. The same area had equipment. Our volunteers cleaned severe damage during the 1990 Pine Creek flash flood Page 2 Spring School Field Trips By Julie Whitehall The 2014 Spring Field Trips at Pine Creek Grist Mill were a huge success again this year. There was a total of about 812 students, teachers, and parents who attended. The season opened on May 1st. The weather was cool, but beautiful. This is the first year in many that we did not have to go into a rain schedule mode for any of the scheduled field trips. We hosted the following schools: Butter Station with making your own butter and tasting it. Ainsworth Elementary Experience a one room school house at the Melpine School. Blue Grass Elementary Buffalo Elementary Nye Cemetery with grave witching included. Franklin Elementary Grant Elementary Old Time Tools where students can saw a log with a two man saw, drill, and hammer square nails. Iowa City Home School Group Louisa – Muscatine Elementary Take a trail hike and learn about the flora and fauna along Madison Elementary Davenport the way. Madison Elementary Mulberry Elementary Learn the history of games and play some of the most popular Muscatine Home School Group ones of the 1800’s. Riverside Elementary Washington Elementary This fall we hope to be adding the Log Cabin Wilson Elementary Davenport to the list of choices. Here you will be able to step back into a real As the students unloaded the bus they were transported 1800’s log cabin and to the mid 1800’s. Their tour began with a walk through the compare this Mill as the staff turned on the machines to demonstrate the home to process of grinding the grain. yours. Fall field trips are still available for 2014. Spring Field Next students were divided into Trips fill up groups and went to stations that were fast so sign up designed to meet their school’s individual anytime.