Membership Benefits
A Milan Area Historical Society (MAHS) membership has many benefits. Besides the good feeling you get from helping to preserve and promote our history, you also receive:
The money that we collect from memberships goes into an operating fund that supports a variety of purposes. In 2004, for example, that money helped us print MAHS' first colored postcards; photocopy our newsletters and fliers to promote special events; and buy inventory for the gift shop. Another portion enables us to continue to employ our new curator and to pay for basic maintenance of the interior of the Hack House.
To help us tackle some projects that have gone wanting for years-repair of the house's staircase, for instance, and replacement of water-damaged wallpaper-we've raised membership dues a bit. But we've also added a 'senior family' category, so that a senior couple would pay a dollar less in 2004 than if they'd bought two senior individual memberships last year.
You'll notice we now have a 'business' category as well. If you own a business, we hope you'll consider this option in addition to a personal membership.
About a quarter of our members include something extra with their dues checks. We appreciate that and encourage others to do the same.
This year, we'll be earmarking those extra funds to support the preservation of the folk-art mural in the Hack House's original kitchen. It's very rare to find a mural like this in Michigan, and it's one of the main reasons the house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The cost of cleaning the mural and repairing the plaster walls has been estimated at nearly $4,000. Though we are seeking grant money to finance this, your help in matching those funds is definitely needed.
The six categories of MAHS membership are described on the Membership Application Web Page. Please review them, pick whichever category is most appropriate for you, and establish/renew your membership today. If you have any questions, please contact MAHS President Anne Farmer at farmera44@att.net.
Thank you in advance for your support of Milan and its history!