MENUWeekly Column
Each week a small segment of Vernon County history is published in the county papers.
For the week of 8/30/2026
by Kristen Parrott, curator
The Vernon County Museum and History Center moves to its autumn hours this week. For the months of September, October, and November, we’ll be open Monday through Friday, 11AM to 4PM, or by appointment. Call us at 608-637-7396 to make an appointment.
The historic Sherry-Butt House will be open for the Labor Day holiday weekend from Saturday, September 5, through Monday, September 7, from 1 to 5PM each day. After that the house will close for the season except for special events and tours by appointment. Be sure to stop by this gracious historic home while it’s open for the summer. The house is located at 795 N. Main St. in Viroqua, next to the county fairgrounds. It was built in 1870, and was occupied by the Butt family and then the Sherry family for over 100 years.
Noted genealogist Blaine Hedberg of the Westby Area Historical Society will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the genealogy class. The class meets on Thursday, September 10, at 10AM, at the Vernon County History Center. Blaine worked at the Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library in Madison for 30 years, and now lives in Westby.
New students are always welcome at the class. Vernon County Historical Society members attend for free, and non-members are asked to pay $5 per class session. Classes are held in the conference room on the first floor.
The sudden death of Dolly Parton last week reminded me that there is a Dolly Parton doll in the museum’s collection, still in its original box. Local doll collector Amanda Johnson Schatzke donated this and many other dolls to the museum in 1992. Dolly is dressed in a red jumpsuit embellished with gold decorations, shiny like rhinestones. I’ve added her to the doll exhibit on the museum’s second floor. Come visit her and all of the other dolls!
Dolly Parton doll in the museum's doll exhibit.
For the week of 8/23/2026
by Kristen Parrott, curator
The Vernon County Historical Society’s annual pork chop dinner will be held this Saturday, August 29, beginning at 4PM. Food will be served until 7PM or until it runs out, whichever comes first. We usually run out, so plan to come early.
This is a drive-through, carry-out meal. Come to the parking lot of the Vernon County Museum and History Center at the corner of S. Main and E. South Streets in Viroqua, and drive, walk, bicycle, or whatever else through the line to pick up your meals, which you can then take home or elsewhere to eat. Please enter the parking lot through the E. South St. entrance.
The meal consists of a pork chop, which is grilled on-site over charcoal, plus a baked potato, beans, coleslaw, applesauce, a roll, and a cookie. Much of the food is homemade by our wonderful volunteers. Delicious!
The cost of each meal is $18. This event is a fundraiser for the historical society, and the money raised will help us to preserve and promote local history. Come eat for a good cause!
Anyone who remembers raising tobacco will be interested in the new book for sale at the museum’s gift shop. Wisconsin Tobacco Farming: A History, by Gail Klein, is a slim paperback that was published earlier this year. The book is filled with photographs, many of Vernon County scenes. Chapters cover the tobacco boom and decline, the “Norwegian impact”, the tobacco pool, the tobacco warehouses, and other topics. The book is available in our gift shop for $24.99.
You can visit the gift shop, and also the exhibits and archives, during our summertime public hours of Monday through Friday, 11AM to 4PM, and Saturday, 10AM to 2PM. These hours last through the end of August. Beginning in September, we will be closed on Saturdays except by appointment. Fall hours will be Monday through Friday, 11AM to 4PM.
A new book about tobacco farming in Wisconsin
is available for sale at the museum’s gift shop.
The previous two articles: