Everyone Take a Deep Breath!

Now release it. Ahhhhhhhh!

The 7th Annual TASTE of Montgomery County is over, and we couldn't be more pleased by how everything came off. As many of you know, the TASTE is our biggest fundraiser of the year, providing funds for programming and exhibits. We also rely on the TASTE to raise awareness in the community about our museum and mission.

We had around 2100 people attend the TASTE this year. (Our musical performances contributed significantly to that number, since the Big Swing Band is so...well, big!) We had visitors from eleven counties inside Indiana, including quite a few from Marion and Tippecanoe, and 6 other states, including Texas, Utah, and South Carolina.

We had all kinds of great food, from American to Mexican to Greek, and lots of coffee and tea beverages, as well as more adult offerings like strawberry daiquiris, Lift Off IPA from Daredevil Brewing Company, and Coal Creek Winery wines.

Every year we do two sets of awards: Judges' Choice and People's Choice. This year our celebrity judges included Lauren Lowry from Indy's Channel 8 and her husband Blake Lewis, Crawfordsville Planning Director Brandy Allen, and Elizabeth Rentschler from Lafayette's NewsChannel 18.

Judges Choice
Best Entree - El Charro Taqueria
Best Dessert - Big Dipper
Best Booth Presentation - Bon Appetite

People's Choice
Best Entree - Juniper Spoon
Best Booth Presentation - Bon Appetite

Local musicians KSW@G were a great hit in our 1 - 3 p.m. slot. They were followed by the crowd-pleasing Big Swing Band from Lafayette from 4:30 - 6:30. Our evening act was The Michael Kelsey Group, featuring guest harmonica player L.D. Miller, and they brought down the house from 8-10.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year's TASTE of Montgomery County a great success!

TASTE 2013 Music

Can you believe it's August already? Where has the summer gone? The TASTE of Montgomery County is nearly here--and we have some fantastic music offerings this year!

Our opening act is a local favorite. KSW@G, featuring Stephanie Pool, Ken Lee, Wayne Lehr, and Chris "Gooch" Andel, will be performing from 1-3 p.m. With an act that includes hits from the 1950s to the present, they'll be sure to get your toes tapping.

A popular local act makes a return for the 4:30-6:30 p.m. time slot. The Big Swing Band from Lafayette will bring us swing and big band music, featuring vocalist Gail Biss. Bring your best dancing shoes and polish up your Lindy Hop and Jitterbug, because you'll want to get out and cut a rug!
The Big Swing Band performed at the 2009 TASTE of Montgomery County and were a real hit, so you won't want to miss it.

Playing from 8-10 p.m., our evening act is The Michael Kelsey Group out of Indianapolis. Michael Kelsey is a Lafayette native who has toured nationally with Blind Melon and Dishwalla and has opened for such acts as 38 Special and the Doobie Brothers. Though his main instrument is the guitar, Kelsey often reaches out to find improvisational instruments around him. As he experiments with sound and rhythm, his acoustic rock shows are always one of a kind. Check out his music and past performances at his website.

As hard as it is to believe, the TASTE is just over three weeks away. Don't miss your chance to enjoy an afternoon and evening of great music and delicious food. Advance tickets are already on sale at the Carriage House, Milligan's, and the Montgomery County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Advance tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for students. Stop in and pick them up this week!

Moat Garden Magic

Grounds Manager Deb King has been hard at work on recreating Lew's Moat Garden. After filling in the moat, he had a round garden, and we're lucky enough to have pictures of it. Take a look at the original and all the progress Deb has made this year!

Visitor Questions Answered

Sorry about the lack of posts here lately. We've had a slight time management problem...but it's a good kind! We've had so many visitors it's been hard to get blog posts written!

I'm going to do a quick round-up of a few visitor questions that I've had over the past several weeks. I wasn't able to answer the questions definitely at the time, so I told people to check our blog and I would post when I found out.

Where did Lew and Susan meet?

They met at a party at Susan's sister and brother-in-law's home, Lane Place. Of course, Lew had already had encounters with Susan's family--when he was a boy, he sneaked into the Elston homestead hoping for a glimpse of their piano!

Is that Lew's sink?


It is! We think he had the sink so accessible so he could clean his paintbrushes. (No, that isn't Lew's fire extinguisher.)

Is that a water pipe?

Yes! That is an oriental narghile, or water pipe, that Lew brought home from Constantinopole.  It's made of clear, blue glass with floral designs painted on it and a terra cotta top piece. The flowers appear to be burgundy hibiscus, yellow roses, and bittersweet. On one flower petal is the sultan's tughra in a circle, on the next flower petal is a gold oval with:  "B. Fucmez - Constantinople" around some Turkish writing.  Under this is a small circle with what may be "LEW" in it.

Ben-Hur Around the World

The Wallace name has spread far and wide and with it the name Ben-Hur. Schools, taverns, and businesses of all sorts have traded on the marketing juggernaut that was Ben-Hur in the late 19th century.  There are a handful of places around the world that also took these names in tribute and likely in hopes of trading on the famous names.

The small community of Wallace, Indiana, is located in southeast Fountain County. Established in the early 1830s, the village had a blacksmith, cabinet maker, general stores, shoemaker and two doctors. When the community received its first post office, local leaders named it after Lew's father, Governor David Wallace. In 1951, there were eight students in the high school graduating class and Wallace could boast about the same number of firms that had been in business in 1880. As of the 2010 census, there were 105 people spread among 52 households in Wallace. 

It is interesting, given Lew Wallace’s lack of enthusiasm for traditional learning, that at least two schools in Indiana adopted his name. Lew Wallace High School in Gary, Indiana, has had an impressive history and continues to have an active alumni association. In Indianapolis, elementary school P.S. #107 is also named for Lew Wallace. At least one school in Albuquerque has also been named in honor of Lew Wallace, and New Mexico also has a Lew Wallace building as part of their State government complex. 

The name Ben-Hur saw greater utilization by people looking to identify their communities. Ben-Hur, California is an unincorporated community in Mariposa County. Again, a rural post office led to the naming of the community in the 1890s. The post office was closed in the 1950s, but the Ben-Hur name continues to be associated with the tiny settlement that remains. Ben-Hur in Lee County of western Virginia is another unincorporated settlement.

Yet another of the Ben-Hur communities is an unincorporated area in Limestone County, Texas. This town near Waco was originally named Cottonwood, but by 1895, there were three other communities in Texas named Cottonwood. The local residents decided to rename the town. At that time Ben-Hur, Texas, had a population of about 100. By World War II it had a thriving population of over 200, but today there are fewer than 100 people and a couple of closed businesses in Ben-Hur, Texas. 

Perhaps the most exotic of the Ben-Hur communities is a small settlement in the Kalahari Constituency of the Omaheke Region of Namibia on the border between Namibia and Botswana. Just how or why Ben-Hur was used to identify this settlement is not known.

Take a Walk in the Garden with Deb King

Grounds Manager Deb King invites you to visit us Sunday, July 14 at 6 p.m. for a Garden Tour.

Learn about her ongoing re-creation of the Moat Garden, the Montgomery County Community Foundation Going Green Grant she was awarded, and how she chooses what plants to grow here.


Discover plants such as ligularia, moonflower, celosia, and more. Come armed with questions. For a preview, check out Deb's 2013 Bloom Report and 2012 Bloom Report on our Facebook page.

Admission is $5. Some potted plants will be available in exchange for a donation to the garden fund.

Please RSVP or call 765-362-5769 to reserve a spot.

Museum Closed July 4th

Just a quick reminder that we are closed today. We'll be back tomorrow. Happy Independence Day!