Old World Wisconsin welcomes new director
A new director has taken over the reins at Old World Wisconsin (OWW). Dan J. Freas officially took the post Monday, Jan. 30.
As director, Freas will oversee a full-time staff of 15 and a large seasonal staff of interpreters and volunteers. He was chosen from more than 100 applicants.
According to Cheryl Sullivan, Old World interim director, Freas has nearly 30 years of experience in outdoor museum education and administration. He most recently served as vice president of guest experiences for Conner Prairie Interactive History Park in Indianapolis, Ind., a position he has held since 2000. Freas served in a variety of other capacities at Conner Prairie since 1998.
"We are so excited about having him on board," Sullivan said.
Freas' past experience includes historic sites administration and education positions at the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources in Raleigh, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Harrisburg, and Old Salem Museums and Gardens in Winston-Salem, N.C. He holds a bachelor's degree in outdoor museum studies from Salem College in West Virginia, Sullivan added.
"Dan brings such vast experience from so many different aspects of operations of a historic museum that he just stood out among the field," said Sullivan. "We just think Dan is the right person to raise the visibility of the site, and to begin developing new programs and initiatives to support OWW."
Freas is replacing Dawn St. George who served as director since September 2007. St. George was appointed assistant administrator of the Division of Museums and Historic Sites in Madison last August.
Old World Wisconsin, W372 S9727 Highway 67, Eagle, is composed of more than 65 historic buildings relocated from around the state and represents the material and cultural history of nearly a dozen ethnic groups on 10 farmsteads, an 1870s rural crossroads village and a Visitor Center complex.
E-mail Newsletter
Top stories from the Lake Country area. Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.
Enter your e-mail address above and click "Sign Up Now!" to begin receiving your e-mail newsletter
Get the Newsletter!
If I could travel in time ...Judging is currently in progress with an anticipated publication date of June 3 for winning entries.
Lake Country residents share their views on news, happenings and current events.
LivingLakeCountry.com features more than a dozen community bloggers - a group of volunteer conversation leaders who are up on the latest topics and never short on an opinion. Just a few are pictured here. Check out the rest and see what they have to say!
View All Blogs
Discussion Guidelines
Do you want to become a Community Blogger? LivingLakeCountry.com welcomes your thoughts and opinions. Contact us for more information:
I want to blog
Posted Friday, May 18 |
|
Photo of the Week by Todd Ponath: ROCKIN' IT - Fred Eide, left, and his daughter Ashley, of Eide Painting and Sandblasting, use spray guns to paint the individual rock shapes on the underside of the I-94 overpass at Highway P in Oconomowoc Wednesday, May 16. Each "rock" is painted individually and then speckled with black paint to make it look like granite.
News or Feature Story of the Week by Andrea Budde: Bigfoot sighting in Eagle turns out to be less than meets the eye
Sports Story of the Week by JR Radcliffe: Netters win 'unofficial' titles conference
Page or layout design of the week by Lisa Leonard: Drop a line and relax
|
MORE: See full gallery
SUBMIT: Post Your Photos now
Do you have news or an event that you would like to share with the community? Whether it's a community organization, a business, a local school, or a notable neighbor, we'd love to hear about it!!
- Discover Composting
- Christ the King Church of Delafield Resumes Summer Service Schedule
- Greendale Schools June 1 Celebration of Education
- “Savvy Social Security Planning” Seminar to Detail Strategies for Maximizing Benefits
- U.S. Cellular Hosting Free Device Workshop
- Tour Our Very Special Gardens - free - June 25
- Host Daniela from Mexico at Oconomowoc HS
- Very Special Garden Tour - Free - June 23 and June 25
- Wisconsin Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Hits Home Stretch of Annual Milwaukee Man & Woman of the Year Campaign
- Neuroscience Nurse Appreciation Ceremony
MORE: See the rest of Your Stories
SUBMIT: Post Your Story now
Information on Mukwonago Publications
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don't see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Please login or register to post a comment.