Local Girl Scouts earn Silver Award detailing historical items at Wilson Place Museum

By Megan Hansen

Two area Girl Scouts recently earned their Silver Award, and their project is sure to have a lasting impact on the Menomonie community.

9th graders Lilly Bushendorf and Sarah Hansen of Girl Scout Troop 3226, led by their troop leader Emily Hansen, have been hard at work for the last two years to complete their project. Sarah describes the Silver Award as a project that leaves a positive mark on the girls’ community and includes at least 50 hours of community service.

The project they chose to do was to work with the Wilson Place Museum, owned by Tim Dotseth, and create signage for various items outside the mansion, and to create a book with details about each piece. They also created a kids' scavenger hunt that can be completed during tours to help keep kids interested and engaged. Initially, they planned to do indoor signage, but eventually decided to do the signage outside of the mansion. The two agreed that local history was a topic that was very glossed over in school and that students weren’t really being educated on.

The sign concept initially began as a storywalk, similar to the one at Menomonie Public Library. They ended up deciding to do individual stainless steel signs with decals.

“It’s so they don’t wear down as much over time, and they can hopefully be there as long as the museum is there,” said Sarah.

They spent time touring and becoming familiar with the mansion before selecting which things they felt it was important to have signage for. They worked with American Structures, Inc., owned by Earl Wildenberg, to design the signage and then sent them to be printed. American Structures is a local small business that designs stainless steel tanks for companies across the country. Working with people in the shop, they designed and manufactured the sign posts and plates. Those were then sent to Fast Signs in Eau Claire to have the decals put on. 

“We want kids and adults to learn more about the Wilson Place and the artifacts they have there,” said Lilly when asked about what they wanted the lasting impact of the project to be.

Sarah agreed, adding that it is a great way to learn about each generation that lived in the house. The girls agreed that this experience is something that will stick with them for a long time.

“We definitely learned a lot. We learned a lot about patience, especially when things got hard, when we had to keep going back and editing [the reference book and signs],” started Sarah. “We learned how to type things professionally, and we learned how to work with people from a business standpoint,” added Lilly.

They also mentioned that they learned how to install signs and do some other, more hands-on work.

With community support and much hard work, the signs were finally received and installed by the girls in July 2025. “We [Emily and Erin] are very proud of the girls for all of their hard work,” Emily said.

The girls will be at the Menomonie Public Library on Tuesday, October 22nd, from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm to talk about their project and to answer questions from the community. Their reference book, which includes more in-depth information about various artifacts at the Wilson Place, is available to read in the library.

(Editor's Note: The Wilson Place Grounds and Gift Shop will be open from noon to 4 pm on Wednesday, October 22nd. There will be no indoor tours; however, you can explore the grounds and see the new interpretive signs.)

Lilly and Sarah would like to thank Tim Dotseth of the Wilson Place, Stephanie Perry of the Oaklawn Inn, Earl Wildenberg, Jamie Reynolds, Corey Huppert, and the shop crew at American Structures, Lucas Chase of the Mabel Tainter, Fast Signs of Eau Claire, the Menomonie Public Library, the Stout Archives, Emily Hansen and Erin Bushendorf, Joel Hansen, Glen and Isaiah Bushendorf, and many more. They would also like to thank the Menomonie Minute for sharing their story.