Mary Helms Farm
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The Madrid Historical Society's Mary Helms Farm.
The Helms Farm was started by individuals in Iowa working at the dawn of the previous century, the owners built a beautiful farm that still houses an ancestor of that founding family.

Controlled burn of the prairie grass year 2013

1/11/2017

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​A big thanks to John and Mary Neumayer for fire support on the morning of 27APR13. We had a perfect morning for simulating the great prairie fires that roared across the state in days gone by.
We have taken two seasons off from the burning process and the Big Bluestem was noticeably losing ground to weeds. Some action photos of this year’s burn:


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Parlor first peek

1/10/2017

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We waited with anticipation syndrome and romantic yearning to see behind that paneling in grandma Helms’ parlor.  I suppose, historically, as youth flew by in time the parlor wallpaper got changed a little more slowly. Until grandma had her last papering sometime around WWII.  Well, she would have been 49 years old in 1940.   In the mid sixties she had this paneling put up to cover the last papering she would ever oversee again.  Fast forward to today and we planned to renovate the room and restore the glory as best we can. I was awe-struck when the first panel came down at what we uncovered, the HIBISCUS wallpaper of my infancy!

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Risk assessment driven barnyard cleanup!

1/10/2017

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​Safety of visitor’s visits; top priority for work planning. A clean and clear area for visitors drives much of our efforts. An atmosphere of clean defined shapes void of impedences and tripping hazards is our goal. That is a lofty goal being an historical farm with the same owning family for 113 years. Over that amount of time belongings and accumulations of property make for ‘stuff’ everywhere. Old equipment, rusting piling up and old discarded durable goods present a challenge to safety for the family and the museum visitors.
We have had a vision for a cleanup day for years that we can now claim accomplished! At great personal expense in time and monies we have cleaned up the exterior of the museum property and have these pictures for interested parties to view. Most of all we thank the volunteers from Huxley who provided warm bodies and motive equipment!

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Paint the Pink Panther's Pantry Pink!

1/10/2017

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​That is our watch phrase today as we apply pink paint to the pantry. Remember if you like the color for your own work we found our target color as SW6588, Diminutive Pink. In the photo we see John Jontz applying the wall covering paint. John is a SW certified paint applicator and his work will make you happy too. Drop us a line and we will send his contact information.

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    Author

    Our charge and commission is daunting, restore the glory of Mary Helms' homestead.  We are the Madrid Historical Society and I am Mary's grandson. 

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