It's that time of year again on Saturday, April 27. The Florence Pioneer Museum and Research Center will be partnering with the Florence Brewery at 11 a.m. for Chili & Beer at 100 E. Front St. in Florence. This is a fundraiser for the FPM. Ten dollars will let participants pick a handmade bowl from P&G Pottery to keep, and get it filled with homemade chili. Fifteen dollars will get participants a bowl to keep and all they can eat chili. Beer is sold separately at the Brewery across the street. Water will be available also with pop for sale at the Brewery.
The money raised from the chili sales at this event will go towards the rehabilitation of the 1894 Braden/Griffith Block. The upstairs will be a future research center. Major rehabilitation needs up there are: ceiling remodel, new electrical, HVAC and all the other small projects a person encounters when they remodel a space that is 130 years old.
The research center includes a newspaper collection of the Florence area newspapers from 1887, family Bibles, Penrose newspapers, maps/blueprints, accounting books of past businesses of Florence and is now housing the collections from the Wetmore/Hardscrabble Historical Society, just to name a few things.
The Museum is looking for donations of crockpots of chili--any kind. What chili-red or green, hot or mild--do the participants make the best? Or maybe it's posole. Call Marty at (719) 784-1904 and let her know (or leave a message) of what participants can bring. Make sure the crock pot is labeled with participants' name and phone number. For more information, go to www.florencepioneermuseum.org.