Wauconda Township Historical Society to host ice cream social
Wauconda Township Historical Society will host its first anniversary party/ice cream social Sunday, Aug. 23, at the Andrew C. Cook House, 711 N. Main St., Wauconda.
The party, which celebrates the reopening the historic Cook House, runs from 1-4 p.m. and features free ice cream, pie and lemonade, a performance by a high-wheeler bicyclist, vintage children's games, strolling songs and music provided by the Wauconda High School chorale group and tours of the house.
Visitors also will have a chance to purchase signed and numbered watercolor prints of the Andrew Cook farm painted by Betty Lusk Hughes, a great-great-granddaughter of the Cooks.
Hughes' parents farmed on Darrell Road while she attended Wauconda Township High School. She received a degree in art education from the University of Illinois. Her award-winning paintings have been shown in countless juried shows. She is a life member of the Wauconda Township Historical Society.
The historical society asked Hughes if she would do a painting of the Cook house, as part of the anniversary celebration. She stipulated she would paint the house as part of the rural farmstead it had been for 100 years after the Cook family's 1840 arrival from Vermont. They purchased 360 acres on the north edge of what would become the village of Wauconda. Hughes referenced old photographs, her dad's vintage snapshots and map of the farm's layout in an effort to compose the painting accurately.
Fifty prints are available for $35 each, with a 10 percent discount to current and new historical society members. Daddy O's custom framing shop in downtown Wauconda will offer a 10 percent discount to anyone how brings their print in to be framed.
Also available for purchase is the softcover memory book, "Another Time?" It is filled with more than 150 articles and 300 historic pictures of local businesses past and present, plus brief histories of local churches and schools. Researched and written by Donald W. Meyer with Doris Aimers-Voss and Neville Carr, this keepsake of the history of Wauconda is available for $25. Meet the three authors, who will also be on hand to autograph copies of the book.
For information, visit the historical society website, www.wauconda-history.org. Betty Lusk Hughes website is www.bettyluskhughes.com.