MENUWeekly Column
Each week a small segment of Vernon County history is published in the county papers.
For the week of 9/21/2025
by Kristen Parrott, curator
Remember that the annual Pork Chop Dinner is this Saturday, September 27. The menu is a pork chop, baked potato, baked beans, coleslaw, applesauce, roll, and a cookie, all for $15. The dinner will begin at 4PM and run until 7PM or until the food is sold out, whichever comes first. This will be a drive-through, carry-out dinner, served from the Vernon County Museum and History Center’s parking lot located at the corner of S. Main St. and E. South St. in Viroqua. Please enter the parking lot from the E. South St. side.
Funds raised at the dinner will help the Vernon County Historical Society to fulfill its mission of preserving and promoting Vernon County history for the education and enjoyment of all. Come eat for a good cause!
Our next free public history program will be held on Tuesday, October 7, at 2PM, at the History Center. Wisconsin railroad researcher Arlyn Colby will present a program about his new book, The Coon Valley Line: The History of the La Crosse and Southeastern Railroad. This railroad ran from La Crosse southeast to Stoddard, Chaseburg, Coon Valley, Westby, and Viroqua. Built in 1905, it was sold to the Milwaukee Road in 1933, which continued to operate portions of the line for some years.
Everyone is welcome to attend. Programs are held in the first-floor, wheelchair-accessible conference room. Copies of Arlyn’s book will be available for sale ($30 each) at the talk. Note that this is a day-time program.
Installation of the heating and air-conditioning units at the History Center has begun! The units are mini-split heat pumps, which are ductless two-way air-conditioning systems that can both heat and cool. Two are being installed on 3rd floor, and six on 2nd floor. These indoor air-handling units are connected to an outdoor compressor via refrigerant line sets. Ethos Green Power Cooperative is doing this work for us. We look forward to having heat in the exhibit halls this winter, and cool air next summer!
Our utility bills will obviously rise once we are heating and cooling the upper floors of the building. Please consider donating to our HVAC fund, which you can do from our website, or by contacting us at 608-637-7396, or by mailing us at P.O. Box 444, Viroqua, WI, 54665.
For the week of 9/14/2025
by Kristen Parrott, curator
The annual Pork Chop Dinner is coming up soon, on Saturday, September 27. The menu is a pork chop, baked potato, baked beans, coleslaw, applesauce, roll, and a cookie, all for $15. The dinner will begin at 4PM and run until 7PM or until the food is sold out, whichever comes first. This is a drive-through, carry-out dinner, served from the Vernon County Museum and History Center’s parking lot located at the corner of S. Main St. and E. South St. in Viroqua. Please enter the parking lot from the E. South St. side.
Be sure to stop by the museum to visit our temporary exhibit, “Norwegian Immigrants in Vernon County”, before it closes later this fall. This year, 2025, is the bicentennial of Norwegian immigration into the United States. 200 years ago, on July 4, 1825, a small ship called the Restauration left Norway for the U.S. It arrived in New York in October, and marked the beginning of the large-scale movement of Norwegians from their old country to the U.S.
The exhibit features basic information about early Norwegian immigrants in Vernon County, and many pieces of art from 20th-century Norwegian immigrant artist Kristin Vigdahl. Also on display are a collection of Syttende Mai pins from Westby’s annual celebration, colorfully illustrating the importance of Norwegian language and music and food.
These modern pins are complemented by a set of antique badges once worn by officers of the Viroqua lodge of the Sons of Norway. The Sons of Norway is a fraternal organization in the U.S. It began in 1895 as a benefit society, helping members financially in times of sickness or death, and now focuses as well on Norwegian heritage and culture.
The exhibit also includes the Viroqua lodge’s charter, which is written in Norwegian and signed by the original members. The Jotunheimen Lodge #286 was chartered in Viroqua 100 years ago, and has just disbanded this year. The first president was Jens T. Vigdahl, husband of artist Kristin Vigdahl. “Jotunheimen” means “The home of the giants”, and is the name of the highest mountains in Norway. Many thanks to the Jotunheimen Lodge for donating a portion of their remaining funds to the Vernon County Historical Society, which will help us preserve local Norwegian-American history.
Other exhibits at the museum cover topics as varied as tobacco farming in Vernon County, local women who served in the U.S. military, Vernon County’s country schools, and the U.S. 250th, which will be observed next year. Hours at the museum through the end of September are Monday through Friday, 11AM to 4PM, and Saturday, 10AM to 2PM.
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