The Clarke County Historical Society appreciates the responses received due to the article published in the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune in the June 13 issue. We only have about a thousand dollars left to raise to complete the restoration of the last stained-glass windows. We are hoping to raise money to pay for lighting and a display for the restored windows.
Our Grand Army of the Republic is rare, as it not only has writing, but has two soldiers pictures. All but one of the five windows have writing, which makes them rare as it used to cost to put each letter on the window. Our Grand Army of the Old Republic window was the subject of an article in the Des Moines Register, and also had a stained glass expert come from Chicago to see it.
I was privileged to give the tour to the an individual who had toured every museum in Iowa. I asked him what made our museum special, and he easily came up with the windows. He also said our military collection was one of the nicest in the state, and our Civil War wedding dress was exceptional. We already knew that, as the State Historical Society has asked us to donate it to them several times.
The windows are an exceptional part of our collection, and the Society appreciates all the support it has received. We have found out because of the article in the paper where two of the other missing windows are.
Complete restoration should be done by this fall, and we hope to raise the additional funds needed. We hope to have the display and windows in place by 2025.