Teddy Roosevelt dedicates Garfield Farm Museum's 1906 dairy barn restoration

Posted July 01, 2019 11:00 pm

Submitted by Garfield Farm Museum

Joe Wiegand will portray Teddy Roosevelt in a dedication event for Garfield Farm Museum's restored 1906 dairy barn at in Campton Hills. Courtesy of Mark Glenn Studio

On Saturday, July 13, the era of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, will be recalled during the dedication of the restored 1906 dairy barn at Garfield Farm Museum in Campton Hills.

Joe Wiegand will portray Roosevelt sharing stories of his youth, his adventures and selfless dedication to American values at the dawn of the 20th century.

Wiegand is the nation's premiere reprisor of Theodore Roosevelt. A former county commissioner in DeKalb County, Illinois, Wiegand and his family now reside nearby Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was a 25-year veteran in the rough and tumble world of Illinois politics, managing gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.

In 2008, Wiegand set out with his wife, Jenny, daughter, Sam, and golden retriever, Faith, on a 50-state tour celebrating Teddy Roosevelt's sesquicentennial birthday and the centennial of T.R.'s final year in office.

The highlight was a performance at the White House for President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush on Roosevelt's 150th birthday.

Featured at the official National Park Service Centennial Celebration at Yellowstone National Park, Wiegand's Theodore Roosevelt is based on solid scholarship and delivered with Rooseveltian showmanship. Joe's TR Tour is sponsored, in part, by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation of Medora, North Dakota. Wiegand is featured every summer in Medora, gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The dedication is a fundraiser for the museum's latest project, the construction of a collections barn to properly store and preserve museum artifacts.

Tickets at $50 each will include refreshments and appetizers, a ribbon cutting, an hourlong portrayal of Teddy Roosevelt's life, and a tour of the barn.

Advance ticket purchases are required.

The program will begin at 5 p.m. at the museum, 3N016 Garfield Road, off Route 38, five miles west of Geneva.

Reservations are required so seating and refreshments can be planned. Tickets can be purchased by calling the museum at (630) 584-8485, emailing info@garfieldfarm.org, or visiting www.garfieldfarm.org.

Since 1977, volunteers and donors from 38 states and over 3,800 households have worked to save and preserve this 375-acre historically intact, former 1840 Illinois prairie farmstead and teamster inn as an 1840s working farm and inn museum. Land preservation and building restoration have been the focus of the project to ultimately establish a hands on participatory program of Illinois settlement life. Focusing on the three inseparable themes of history, farming and nature, the museum depends upon individuals to sustain its preservation.

Visit www.facebook.com/GarfieldFarmMuseum/.

In 2018, Trillium Dell of Knoxville, Ill., repaired the dairy barn using as much of the original materials as possible. Wisconsin Silo Restoration repaired the 65-foot tall 1913 concrete silo built by W.H. Warford of Geneva. Courtesy of Joseph Coleman

Garfield Farm Museum's 1906 dairy barn featured a wooden truss system and iron tie rods to suspend the hayloft floor, creating an open span first floor. Courtesy of Garfield Farm Museum

Built in the spring of 1906, the timbers and lumber were shipped by rail to La Fox, IL delivered to the farm, and erected for $1,800 by W.H. Reeves of Elburn. Courtesy of Garfield Farm Museum

An aerial view shows the restored 1906 red dairy barn on the grounds of Garfield Farm Museum in Campton Hills. Courtesy of Garfield Farm Museum

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