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WHAT'S HAPPENING
MERCHANTS AND MUSIC
2009! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Fort Thomas Military and
Community Museum Gala
The first annual Fundraising
Gala for the Fort Thomas Military and Community Museum was held
at the Highland Country Club on Thursday, April 30. David Hosea
hosted the event on behalf of the Museum Committee, and more
than 130 enjoyed the evening. A jazz trio from NKU provided the
dinner music. Norma Rashid was the emcee. Cris Collinsworth "volunteered"
to help David Hosea with the auction and the duo sold two paintings
by Ed Odsen, a painting by Nancy Pendery, a print by Bev Erschell,
a weekend at a cabin in Pigeon Ford owned and donated by Amber
DePrez, a week in Fort Lauderdale at a condo owned by David Hosea,
a weekend in a log cabin at Pickens, South Carolina also owned
by David Hosea, and a weekend at the Oneonta river house owned
by David Hosea.
If you would like to purchase a showcase for your family or group,
please contact Debbie Buckley at the City Building (441-1055).
These are handcrafted cases which cost $5,000. You may pay $1000
per year, and these will be displayed for six years. You may
feature your collections, family items, business memorabilia,
or something that personifies life in Fort Thomas. We have a
dozen to sell and they will be placed in the museum for the public
to view.
We are also selling naming rights for the various rooms of the
museum. The rooms include the Military Display, Fort Thomas Art
and Artists, Beverly Hills Memorial Room, Highlands Room, a Research
and Genealogy Room, the Welcome Room, and a Tea Room. Again,
contact Debbie for information.
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FORT THOMAS
MILITARY AND COMMUNITY MUSEUM
The City of Fort Thomas has one of the finest
heritage tourism draws in all of Northern Kentucky in the historic
Fort. We citizens take for granted that the Fort has such significance
not only to the City, but to the entire nation--and even to the
world. More than 80,000 were inducted right here in Fort Thomas.
Many of those families have returned to walk where their loved
ones walked, only to find no sign of the Fort--literally--no
sign pointing them to the Fort. Fort Thomas Renaissance wants
to change things. We want to show off a little--point people
to the lovely grounds of Historic Fort Thomas. Show people the
Historic Midway District that once catered to the needs of the
soldiers. Create a historic walking trail to draw people's attention
to the history.
Many are familiar with the Military Museum housed within the
Community Center (formerly the Mess Hall). It has some great
artifacts and photos of soldiers from the two great wars. Now
we want to enlarge and revitalize the muse
um. The City has been gracious in allowing us to inhabit the
former Brindle House and create a Fort Thomas Military and Community
Museum. The Brindle House was built originally to house the steward
of the Veterans Hospital back around 1900. The building is on
the National Historic Register and as long as Don Brindle was
the Recreation Director for the City, he and his family lived
in the house. It's been beautifully kept up and although there
are cosmetic needs, it will be easily restored for our use as
a museum.
The eight rooms within the house will be used for a Highlands
Memorial Room featuring prized artifacts from Highlands High
School; a Beverly Hills Memorial Room; a Fort Thomas art/artist
display; a research room for those wanting Fort Thomas genealogical
or history information; a larger military display with stories
of Fort Thomas military people and items; a moving display that
will include loans from people in the area who want to share
them with the public. We hope to have a display of the Altamont
Hotel, once a health spa for the wealthy, built right here in
Fort Thomas. We welcome any artifacts you might like to share.
If you have an idea for a traveling display, please contact Debbie
Buckley at 572-1225.
We want more than artifacts for this museum. We want the items
to tell the story of a person or people. Please feel free to
write notes about any items you might like to donate. We will
help with research and tastefully display whatever you chose
to share. Our goal is to open by July 4, 2009.
2008 SALUTE TO VETERANS
Salute to Veterans was a huge success! Everyone involved
made this event a night to remember. A special thanks to Debbie
Buckley our Renaissance Manager who put tireless hours into making
this weekend happen and run smoothly. Additional thanks go out
to: The Swingtime Big Band, the Mustard Seed Catering, the Sixth
Scale Model Collectors Club,our Renaissance Committee, our Museum
Committee, Kim and Eric Hempleman, Jake Hartfiel, Melissa Kelly,
Dave Thiel, Kevin Goldstein, Bonnie and Jerry Jansen for the
decorations, Jason and Julie from the Recreation Department for
their help at the dance, the VIPS for help with parking, the
Fort Thomas 478th Engineer Battalion, our local florists for
the donations of beautiful flowers for the tables, Nelson Tents,
Rent-A-Center, and last but not least the Veterans that were
in attendance! The VA Hospital in Fort Thomas brought over 50
veterans to attend the USO dance. We were so happy to have them!
The Bigtime Swing Band |
Mrs. Bowman sings the National Anthem |
The Morris Display |
The Morris Display |
FORT THOMAS MILITARY MUSEUM
Students from Dr. Cherli Reuter's two English classes
from NKU have joined Fort Thomas Renaissance in a cooperative
educational project. Dr. Reuter's classes will be helping inventory
and document items in the Fort Thomas Military Museum. They will
also work on organizing photo albums from the collection of photos
long stored in the City Building. The students will help work
on the display cases and hang framed items.
We are working with NKU History Professor, Dr. Rebecca
Bailey, to bring more students on-board with projects that will
benefit the new museum. Those students created a power point
presentation for Salute to Veterans showing the history of the
Fort. They have also volunteered to create a 3-D virtual tour
of the Fort for the website. As you "walk" through
the Fort, the buildings will rise up out of the ground. This
will all come from photographs collected of the Fort throughout
the years.
Dr. Bailey has also suggested that we work together
to create a historical website much like Covington just finished.
It would be able to be downloaded onto an Ipod for people to
do their own driver's tour of Fort Thomas. We will be working
on funding for this venture.
Additionally, we are working with NKU English professor,
Debbie Allan, to create a memorial tribute room to the victims
of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. The Scripps Howard funding
will allow the students to create memory boards of each victim,
telling the story of their lives (not an obituary!). Wayne Dammert,
the writer of the book about the Beverly Hills Fire, has asked
the City of Fort Thomas to allow the families to build a memorial
near the Armory. The best location might be alongside the road
going to the new museum. It would draw attention to the museum
but also be within easy sight of the Armory, where the bodies
were taken. They would provide their own funding for the monument.
A letter was sent to the City of Southgate Mayor and Council
asking their blessing on this project, but no word ever came
back. Mr. Dammert has volunteered to donate some items for the
museum.
Debbie Buckley has had several meetings with members
of Congressman Geoff Davis' office concerning the possibility
of acquiring the Stables Building. We have been in touch with
the powers that be in Washington and they are willing to do a
swap. The City would provide a large storage building on the
Army property in exchange for the Stables. Major Wendy Rodriquez
indicates that there is a site available. We will need to decide
if the City is interested enough to pursue funding for the building.
Although we have another building for the Museum now, it would
be beneficial to own the Stables for educational classrooms or
meeting rooms, an indoor farmer's market, a monthly antique flea
market, etc. The newly resurfaced parking lot would be appropriate
for the buildings' many uses.
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