January 2021

I can honestly say that I am glad 2020 is behind us, although 2021 is not starting out much better. However, I hope that it will turn out to be a good year.

In early January, the MMCI board had a Zoom meeting to talk about the up coming year. I am sad to report that the decision was to postpone the winter show held in Greenville, IL. until 2022.  We feel that we are faced with too many unanswered questions with all of the COVID. With some of the restrictions that are in place, we did not know if we would have been able to have a banquet or an auction. We feel it would be best to keep everyone safe and cancel the show.

We are still planning on doing the coloring contest, so I encourage everyone to go out to the www.minneapolismoline.orgwebsite and print out the coloring pages you would like to use and submit them.

We decided to freeze the election this year for new board of directors, the main reason was because we as a group have not been able to get together in the past year. We thought this would be the best for the club and the current board members. If anyone is interested in running for the board or know of an individual who would be a good fit, please contact one of the current board members.

This past year we had a couple of people make donations to the MMCI club. I would like to personally thank you for your donations. The club appreciates you thinking about us. Currently we are financially stable.  We are still going to be offering a scholarship and preservation grant this year. Please encourage individuals to look on the website for details. Thank you to everyone that is supporting our club, by memberships, attending the shows, placing items up for auction and purchasing merchandise from the club.

In early January,  Loren Book, Gaylen Mohr, and myself went to Floyd County Museum in Charles City Iowa, to meet with Jennifer Thiele – Director; Sara Renaud – Collection Technician along with Dean Tjaden, Vice President of Museum Board. Our main goal was to meet Jennifer and Sara. We had a nice conversation regarding our club and ensured them that we are there to support and help out in any way we can. One of their goals is to continue to support and supply information to the Minneapolis Moline enthusiast. I can tell that both Jennifer and Sara have a lot of energy, that will be good for the museum and keep it heading in the right direction. I encourage everyone to stop by and introduce yourself or give them a call. Jennifer and Sara are still trying to get familiar with what is all inside the museum.

I am truly looking forward to the summer show, it will be held in Forest City Iowa, at the Heritage Park of North Iowa, June 18th-20th Father’s Day weekend.

MMCI President

Jay Groskreutz