08/15/2026
Today I want to give a "shout out" to the people behind the scenes.
When you visit the Koester House Museum & Gardens, you see the beautiful home, the gardens, the artifacts, and the displays. What you may not see are the many people working quietly behind the scenes to make it all possible.
We are incredibly grateful to the Koester family, who so generously donated the museum and who contribute significantly with ideas and financial support. Their generosity didn't end when the keys were handed over.
We also want to recognize our Foundation Board members. These volunteers do far more than attend meetings. They handle the countless everyday responsiblities of keeping the museum operating -- planning events, raising funds, making decisions, solving problems, caring for the property and collections, and doing whatever needs to be done. Much of that work happens quietly and without recognition.
And finally, we want to thank the wonderful team from the Chapman Center for Rural Studies that spent the past year working alongside our board to develop and create new museum displays. They gave their time, knowledge, creativity, and talents to help us tell the Koester story in new and meaningful ways . Visitors may see the finished displays, but they don't see the many hours of research, planning, discussion, writing, designing, and preparation that went into those displays.
Museums aren't preserved by buildings alone. The are preserved by people who believe their stories are worth saving.
So... to all of you who have worked, donated, planned, researched, volunteered, encouraged, and supported us -- especially when no one was watching -- thank you! The Koester House Museum & Gardens are better because of you, and we want you to know that your contributions have not gone unnoticed.,
