The year 2009 was a record breaking year for the Pine Creek Grist Mill.  We set records in visitation to the mill, attendance on school tours and special event participation.  During the  summer the tour guides hosted 7,763 people to the mill.  This was more than a 26% increase over our previous visitation record in 2007 and represented an average of 18.9 people per hour visiting the mill.  Obviously our fame is spreading and the visiting public enjoys the old mill.

The Friends of Pine Creek Grist Mill has restored much of the Old Mill in the past few years and we strive to make the old mill accessible to the public.  We want as many people as possible to enjoy the mill and learn about our historical heritage.  To do this we have three main aspects of our interpretive program: 

1. We hire tour guides to staff the mill.
2. We host school field trips to the mill and also other community groups.
3. We organize special events to showcase the mill.

Each of the three parts of our program set records in 2009.

Fast facts and statistics for 2009

Total school tour participation	1,351  people
Total mill visitation during regular hours	7,763  people
Visitation rate	18.9 people per hour
Heritage Day visitors	1,117
Hoover Fest	Many people
Ghost of Pine Creek	175 people

School Interpretive Program Report

In the past our school tours have all, or mostly all, been in May.  Because there is a greater demand for school field trips to the mill in May than we can meet we have encouraged schools to visit during the summer or fall.  This year we had six field trips either during the summer or fall.  This has allowed us to expand our program and reach more kids, setting a record of 1,351 people participating in the field trip program.

When we host a school field trip we divide the kids up into small groups of 10 – 15 kids.  This allows much better participation and a better learning experience.  After dividing the students into small groups each group travels to a different presentation.  Through the day the groups of students rotate through the different presentations.  Our theme is “Life as a Pioneer.”  Each presentation explores some aspect of the lives of the pioneers and we try to have the kids participate in the presentation/learning experience.  We of course give tours of the mill but we also do:

1. Old time tools – students run cross cut saws, hammer square nails, make wooden shingles, etc.
2. Explore a nearby pioneer cemetery and witch graves, learn individual pioneer stories, etc.
3. Attend class in an 1800’s country school.
4. Grind grain into flour with old time grinding stones and make pancakes.
5. Make butter from milk (and use it on their pancakes).
6.  Handle the furs from animals present in the area at time of settlement – elk, wolf, bear, etc.
7. And several other activities.

One aspect of the school program is that we gave 360 presentations.  Each presentation is at least one half hour long.  We do a lot of talking and working with the kids.  Because we do so many presentations we have found that we cannot do it with volunteers alone.  About half our presenters are paid by Friends of the Mill and the other half are volunteers.

School tour facts and statistics:	May	Summer & Fall	Total
School tour days	11	6	17
Students participating	767	233	1000
Adults participating (parents & teachers)	267	57	351
Total participants	1061	290	1351
Presentations given	288	72	360
Hours of paid staffing	220.25	82.5	302.75
Cost of paid staffing	$2,202.50	$825.00	$3,027.50
Hours by volunteers	317.5	34	351.5
Number of volunteers	21	3	24
Hours by DNR & Muscatine CCB	67	0	67

As can be seen from the above facts the School Interpretive Program serves a wide audience, but it also cost the Friends of the Mill $3,027.50 just for staffing.  Every year it is a struggle to raise the necessary funds and 2009 was more difficult than most years.  In April we were still short of funds and were considering how to curtail the program since we apparently did not have enough funds for the complete program.  However, some additional people contributed and we found more volunteers than in past years so we were able to have the complete program.

Summer Interpretive Program Report

We started out the year struggling to raise enough money to fund the summer program and keep the doors open.  At one time last spring we actually drew up an alternative staffing schedule to only have the doors open about half as many days as in the past few years.  But in the end we did have enough money donated to keep the doors open for the full schedule and lucky for us that we did, because we had the best summer ever with a record 7,763 visitors.  That was more than a 26% increase over our previous high number of visitors.  The old mill averaged 18.9 visitors per hour, or one person coming through the door every three minutes, on average.  No wonder the tour guides thought they were busy.

Once again this past summer the mill was open weekends in May and then again just weekends in late September and October.  In between, during the summer months, the mill was open Wednesdays through Sundays.  Hours were 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM.  Usually we had one person working on weekdays and two on weekends.  On weekends we also assisted by a park naturalist to make a staff of three.  It takes three people to safely staff the mill when the mill is run, not to actually run the mill but to make sure visitors are safe.  On Saturdays and Sundays we ran the mill at 1:30 PM and 3 PM. 

Usually October weekends are one of our heaviest visitation times as people enjoy the fall weather.  But this year we never had a weekend in October with nice weather.  If we would have had nice October weather even more people would have visited Pine Creek Grist Mill.

Summer Interpretive Program Facts and Statistics:
Total visitation	7,763
Total days open	102
Total official hours open	410
Average number of visitors per hour	18.9
Hours of paid staffing	647
Cost of paid staffing	$6,470.00

A sidelight on operating the mill this last summer was that we had very problems with the mill.  The restoration guys have worked over the years getting machinery repaired and working.  What we have found over the years is that after a machine is restored it often takes a little tweaking to keep it running efficiently.  The restoration guys have the tweaking and maintenance down so we had very few breakdowns this past summer.

Special Events

The Friends of the Mill organize and run two special events to help interpret the mill and bring its historical heritage to the people of Iowa and Illinois.  The biggest by far is Heritage Day in September and then followed by the Ghost of Pine Creek in October.  We also participate in a National Park Service event called Hoover Days at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch, Iowa.

Heritage Day

Heritage day was Sept. 19 and it was a great day with beautiful weather.  On Heritage Day the Friends of the Mill run the mill off and on throughout the day and have several people in the mill at all times answering questions and giving tours.  We have several dozen presenters in the mill area doing everything from tatting, helping kids saw logs, taking photos with old time photography equipment, having kids milk goats, etc.  There are old musical presentations and we serve food.  It is a very family oriented day and attracts a huge crowd. 

We do not charge admission but we do make a couple thousand dollars on food sales, sale of memorabilia, donations from presenters and donations by visitors.  We run the food service with a 4-H Club.  The Friends of the Mill serve sandwiches, chips and pop plus provide homemade ice cream to the 4-H Club to sell with their homemade pies.  Homemade ice cream and pie is a perfect fit to the old mill.

We have no way of counting visitors but we do station someone at the front door of the mill who counts people entering.  We set a record this year with 1117 people, but we know many were not counted.  Parking was full by 11 AM and the shuttle buses could not handle the crowd.  The bus drivers counted about 2000 people who rode the two shuttle buses.  We were sold out of food by early afternoon. 

During Heritage Day we ran the mill for 20 minutes or more every hour and ground about 250 pounds of grain.  We just dribble the grain in since we do not want or have any use for hundreds of pounds of flour, but Sept. 19, 2009, saw more grain ground in the Pine Creek Grist Mill since the mill was operating over 80 years ago.

Heritage Day 2009 was a great success.

Ghost of Pine Creek

Our other special event is Halloween related but the object is not to scare anyone but to bring history alive.  We have presenters dress up and reenact characters from the mill’s early history – ghosts of early pioneers.  The event is a bit spooky since it happens after dark but it is quite educational.  We market the event for kids but at least half of the participants are adults.  One of the “ghost” is the ghost of Ben Nye, the builder of the mill, who talks about building and operating the mill in the 1840’s.  It is also enjoyable for the Friends of the Mill because we operate the mill after dark.  The mill is a beautiful sight with the lights on and the millstones turning, surrounded by darkness, and the water splashing over the dam.

Hoover Fest

The National Park Service operates the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and every summer they put on an event called “Hoover Days.”  It is an historically themed event with many presenters and thousands of visitors.  We participate because it is great advertising for us and also because it is fun.  The Friends of the Mill have gained a reputation as one of the most popular attractions at Hoover Fest.  Our booth/area is unique because it is aimed at children and is interactive.  We let kids grind corn and get dirty doing it.  We let kids use old time tools to drill holes and saw their own souvenir slices of logs.  We do not count visitors to our area but we do know we were quite busy.

Other Interpretive Activities

In addition to the above activities the Friends of the Mill also give mill tours to an occasional bus tour and also to any community group that wants a tour.  We also give presentations off site to community groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.

Wildcat Den State Park

Wildcat Den State Park is not a part of the Friends of the Mill interpretive effort but we coordinate our efforts with them.  The park has two naturalist and two permanent staff who also give tours of the mill. Wildcat Den State Park staff gave a number of tours during the summer but we have no report from them of the number of tours or the number of people on the tours.

Conclusion

The mission of the Friends of the Mill is to restore and interpret the Pine Creek Grist Mill.  In 2009 the restoration crew had a great year restoring additional machinery.  But restored machinery needs to be seen by the public and that is what the Interpretive Program does – operates the mill and interprets our historical heritage to the many visitors.  It was a record setting year with thousands of visitors, a busy year, a great year.