Mystery at the Museum - Spring 2024

Select Friday and Saturday Evenings, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Test your sleuthing skills as you join other guests - all in character and in costume - to solve a murder that happens right before your very eyes. It is an Agatha Christie novel come to life in the sumptuous surroundings of Hearthstone’s beautiful Victorian interiors (what could be more Agatha Christie than that!).

The night features heavy hors d'oeuvres and wine and soft drinks served by the museum’s volunteers dressed as maids and butlers while guests interact (in character, of course) to figure out who had motive and opportunity to do the dastardly deed. It is a night dedicated to mayhem, murder, and fun!

It is strongly suggested that tickets be purchased at least two week before the night of each event. Purchasers will then receive their character information and costume suggestions (which can be as elaborate or as simple as guests would like - but be aware that there is a prize for best dressed!). Prizes are also awarded to the best actress or actor and for the first to correctly solve the “who did it!”

All proceeds of Hearthstone’s “Mystery” events support museum operations. The museum staff and volunteers deeply appreciate the support of the museum and, in particular, its educational programming.

Scheduled dates are as follows:

• January 31 (SOLD OUT)

• February 15 (SOLD OUT)

• February 28 (SOLD OUT)

• March 15 (SOLD OUT)

• April 4 (SOLD OUT)

• April 19 (SOLD OUT)

• Additional dates may be added.

Please note the following:

• Each new season of Mystery at the Museum features a new crime to solve. If you have played in the past, please join us for a new mystery this year. However, we ask that once you have played this year that you do not share the solution with others outside of your party.

• Unfortunately, because of the nature of the event, there can be ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS for tickets. Guests who are unable to attend are responsible for finding a replacement to play their role and use their ticket. This is required as all characters are essential for the mystery to be played.

• Guests must make museum staff aware of any food allergies at least two weeks prior to the date of the event. Every effort will be made to comply with guest requirements, but the caterer CANNOT guarantee allergen-free ingredients.

• This is a “21 and older” event.

• Evenings sell out quickly. Additional evenings may be added in the future to accommodate demand but these are not guaranteed.

• Please make sure that your email address is accurate when buying tickets. Your confirmation email serves as your ticket to the event.

Summer on the Veranda

Select Friday evenings, May - August, starting May 2

5:00 - 7:00 pm

Relax in Victorian splendor as you stroll the veranda at Hearthstone with a cool drink in hand (parasol is totally optional!) while listening to performances on our 1875 square grand piano. This open-house event is about slowing down the pace of life and being immersed in the lavish surroundings of the wonderfully restored 1882 Queen Anne Style home.

Ladies are encouraged to wear their best Victorian hats. Beautiful hats were de rigueur for Victorian and Edwardian ladies. Gents can sport their own straw boater or a bowler. But if anyone does not have a hat, we would be glad to lend you one of our recreations from our collection.

Our docents will be dressed up as well playing the roles of hostesses or the Rogers’ servants as they welcome you into the home while serving complementary beverages.

Don’t feel like you need to dress up… but it does add to the fun.

Tickets include your choice (and refills) of lemonade, iced tea, white wine, or classic mint juleps.

Mother’s Day at Hearthstone

May 11

Doesn’t Mom deserve a little special treatment? Of course, she does! On Mother’s Day, all moms receive free admission to Hearthstone with a paid admission at the door (because of course you want to go with her). What better way to celebrate Mom’s special day than in the special surroundings of Hearthstone! Plus, our docents will be sharing stories of Hearthstone’s first women - Cremora Rogers, Florence Rogers, and Mary Deimer.

Doors open at 1:00 pm. Tours begin at 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm.

It’s a Mother’s Day celebration of historic proportions!

“Cream Aura” Old Fashion Ice Cream Social

Sunday, July 20, 2025, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM

The simple joy of sitting on the back porch, enjoying locally made ice cream, on a beautiful summer’s afternoon… What can top that? Um, a little chocolate sauce maybe?

In honor of Hearthstone’s First Lady, Cremora Rogers, Hearthstone will be serving up scoops of delicious, locally made, ice cream (we have found it to be our duty to try local products, sometimes three or four times… just to make sure) at something we call our “Cream Aura” Old Fashion Ice Cream Social. (Get it? After “Cremora” Rogers… ok keep reading.)

It will all be very informal. We will be sitting at tables and chairs in the backyard of the museum - and on the veranda steps too of course - under the shade of the trees that line the riverbank. The ice cream will be available by the scoop in bowls. (The ice cream cone wasn’t invented until 1904! We are stickers that way.) The event is free but we will be charging a modest amount for the ice cream as a fundraiser. (But not the chocolate sauce, that’s on us - Hershey’s Cocoa is very Victorian, first being served in 1896.)

Pull over, pedal over, or just wander over and join us for a Victorian ice cream social.

PLEASE NOTE: ICE CREAM QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY. RAIN DATE IS JULY 27. (The ice cream won’t keep forever.)

Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Head: Patriarchy, Paternalism, and Women’s Rights in Victorian America

August 14 (rescheduled from March)

Considering that Wisconsin’s current law banning abortion in most cases dates from 1849, a time when women were seldom free to exercise independent thought, let alone their individual rights, this topic has profound relevance today.

Join Hearthstone’s Executive Director and attorney George Schroeder as he leads an hour long presentation on the transformation of women’s rights in 19th century America. The presentation will overview the changes in martial and property rights, reproduction rights, and voting rights. It will feature illustrations in each area from the lives of Hearthstone’s Cremora and Florence Rogers.

This free event was originally scheduled for Women’s History Month.