Hallie Gallinet | The Republic The Bartholomew County Historical Society Museum’s annual Christmas Memories exhibit continues through Saturday.
Step into a wooded winter wonderland, a festive farmhouse, a sentimental schoolhouse and much more during Bartholomew County Historical Society Museum’s annual Christmas Memories exhibit, running until Saturday.
Since 2018, the museum has opened its doors each holiday season for visitors to view the many uniquely decorated trees and tablescapes. Bartholomew County Historical Society Executive Director Diane Robbins said when she started that year at the historical society, there was nothing like this in Columbus and she thought it would be a fun idea to start the tradition. It would also serve as an opportunity to bring people to the historical society and museum and to give back to the community.
“They do something like this in Indianapolis at the Indiana Historical Society, so… kind of got the idea from them to bring it to Columbus and we’ve changed it from year to year,” Robbins said. “Prior, we’ve had decorators do trees, we’ve called it ‘The Trees Through Time,’ and we’ve had different trees decorated from different eras. And then the last three years I believe, Geri (Handley’s) been decorating them.”
A Columbus resident, Handley said she has been involved with the historical society off and on for many years. Originally, Robbins had different designers decorate different trees, which included Handley. As time went on, Handley said Robbins asked her to do all of them, but this year will be her last designing for the event.
“I’ve done it for five years so it’s probably time for someone to put a new spin on it or do something different,” Handley said.
Some of the themes Handley designed this year include a white and red tree representing Indiana’s state bird and an evergreen adorned with gold ornaments, baby blue Tiffany boxes on and under the tree, and a photo of a yacht nestled in the branches, paying homage to Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby.” Handley said that is a theme she has been wanting to do for a while.
“Christmas on the Farm,” a large display located on the first floor, invites guests into an old “farmhouse” and “barn” with a fireplace and rocking chair, both from the museum’s permanent collections. The barn display includes vintage farm implements from the Henry and Blanche Breeding Farm House. To the left of the fireplace sits a wooded area with five decorated pine trees, with small rock sculptures by local artist Bob Pulley nestled underneath them. Handley said she has known Pulley for many years and the pieces are also available for purchase.
“… I do like to feature an artist every year,” Handley said. “When I was thinking about the woodland part, I thought, ‘oh, well, that’s kind of a no-brainer, it just has to be Bob’s pieces.”
The mid-century modern themed exhibit also features a couple of items from the museum’s permanent collection, including a sea foam green velvet gown from the 1950s and an over 70-year-old silver aluminum tree. Taking a trip up the garland-laced stairs takes visitors to an area themed to the four seasons, with four trees representing spring, summer, autumn and winter. In the center of the room sits a display case with some crèches, including one made of cloth from Guatemala.
“And then in the library is ‘The Three R’s.’ So, some old school desks from the permanent collection and the tree is decorated as children would decorate it with the construction paper chain garland and old school books and a painting of Santa Claus,” Handley said. “So, it’s really kind of a fun tree with colored lights instead of the white lights…”
While Robbins said all of the trees are fantastic and she has no favorite, Handley said her favorite is the “Christmas on the Farm” exhibit because of how different it is from her previous displays and because of the items from the Henry and Blanche Breeding Farm House. She said it is always fun to show off items people don’t get to see often because they’re put away.
Coming up with the different themes and designing them in her mind are Handley’s favorite parts of the “Christmas Memories” tradition. She begins planning in January, and Robbins said she and her team spend about a week decorating.
“Getting everything together to actually install it is quite a job,” Handley said. “I try to be organized about it, and really that’s why I start in the beginning of the year so I have months to kind of finalize everything.”
Handley said the exhibit is a different kind of event that everyone can enjoy, and Robbins said many enjoy coming by each year to see what she has done, in addition to seeing some of the permanent exhibits the museum has to offer. She said she believes it has become a tradition for many, as they have visited each year the exhibit has been open.
“It just puts you in the Christmas spirit. To me, it’s just a very festive place to visit this time of year and it will put a smile on your face,” Robbins said. “And we have a lot of groups that come, like ladies’ lunch groups and other groups that meet, and they’ll walk over (together). We’ve had some assisted living locations come visit, we have families that come. It just, like I said, puts a smile on your face and puts you in the holiday spirit.”
