ABOVE: The large screen that was one of the first additions to the new interactive room at the Martin County Historical Society’s Pioneer Museum in Fairmont. The screen can play different interviews and PowerPoint presentations.

FAIRMONT– While normally you’re not supposed to touch artifacts in a museum, the Martin County Historical Society’s Pioneer Museum is inviting people to do just that in its new interactive room. The room, which has been in the works for the past five years, is now about 99 percent complete.

“It kind of started when we had a donor board and I suggested to (Jim Marushin, curator) that we get rid of that and put up a screen and you looked for that kind of thing,” said the museum’s director, Lenny Tvedten.

Marushin said, “Kind of that, and the Brodt room was a room that needed a little more direction so as we got going we thought it was a room to do something special with.”

The space that the interactive room is now in was previously the Brodt business room, named for one of the historical society’s founders, Maud Brodt. It featured pieces of business history that have been moved to other areas of the museum. This provided a blank canvas of sorts.

“We had so many different items, duplicate items, that could be manipulated,” Tvedten said. “Like a 1983 computer that works and dial up telephones and we thought, a lot of children, and adults, have never used a dial up telephone.”

Marushin agreed and added that in so much of the museum they prefer it to be hands off so they wanted to come up with an area where that would be allowed for learning purposes.

ABOVE: Some historic items that can be manipulated in the new interactive room. Above different views of the room from the newly installed security cameras can be seen.

With an idea in mind, they began looking for a consultant and had found a company that was going to come down and look at the space.

“Then the lockdown hit (Covid, 2020) and no one was traveling and then they backed out,” Marushin said.

“We just decided to use our best judgment and forge ahead on our own. It’s been about a five year project but it wasn’t something we could work on everyday,” Tvedten explained.

Of course, money was a factor. Tvedten said some of the items were costly but that they had great donors who stepped forward to help with the project

One of the first things they got for the room was a large display screen that can play different interviews and PowerPoint presentations.

Martin County allocated extra money, $10,000, in addition to its annual appropriation, to the museum for fiscal year 2026 to help with the project. The money was used to get security cameras for the interactive room.

“In that room, there’s a lot of things that kids and adults could screw up either the item or themself so we want to make sure for everyone’s safety to have security and have it monitored,” Tvedten said.

The camera shows the room from five different angles and each of the museum’s employee’s, Tvedten, Marushin and Dona Paris have monitors that show the room.

“We’re not all here all the time,” Tvedten said. “But between the three of us one of us should be where we can see the screen.”

In setting up the room, they worked with a few local people to add some special aspects.

ABOVE: An 1890 roller organ can be seen on top of an old switchboard in the new interactive room.

“The table was custom built by Fox Lake Furniture that shows the five lakes,” Tvedten said.

“There are buttons from old festivals imbedded in the corners,” Marushin added.

Alexandra Hurney, an artist in the community, painted murals on all four of the walls which depict different communities in Martin County and what they’re known or remembered for.

“That’s part of why the process took so long. We’re working with a lot of talented people who have a lot of projects going on,” Marushin said.

He added that in general the museum always try to use local people when working on projects and that they were very intentional when planning this room.

As for where they got the artifacts in the interactive room, Marushin said it was a combination.

“Some were donations we got in while we were planning the room and some were from going around the museum to find items that we had duplicates of or that were too interesting not to include,” Marushin said.

One of these items was an 1890 roller organ. They don’t have a duplicate but once cranked it plays music so Marushin said they felt it was fitting for the room.

Another item is a corn grater. There is no duplicate of that either but the crank can be run so you can see how the item used to work.

Counters are set up representing both Kiehl’s Bakery, complete with a plastic replica of its famous champagne cake, and Harnden’s Fruit and Vegetable Stand which includes an old scale where plastic fruits can be weighed.

While the room is nearly complete, both Tvedten and Marushin are open to adding other items to it in the future if and when they get items donated that makes sense to include.

ABOVE: A stand dedicated to the history of Kiehl’s Bakery is in the interactive room. Plastic baked goods and the iconic champagne cake, left, can be touched (but not tasted).

“If we get something that’s really neat and an undeniable match for that room, things change. The whole museum is constantly changing and evolving based on what we get in and what we have time to do,” Marushin said.

They’re both excited to introduce the public to the room and recognize that it’s extremely unique. Tvedten said he is not aware of any other county museum in the state that has an interactive room.

“Not that there isn’t, but I’m not aware of any,” Tvedten said.

He stressed that the room was made possible with donations from people who saw it as a worthy cause.

“There were people willing to put that much money toward it. It makes you feel good that people appreciate what’s going on. The support has been really good,” Tvedten said.

To show off the room, there will be a business after hours in the interactive room from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23. There will also be an open house in the room from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 27.