Month: July 2026

Golden Nuggets by Sandy Bexon

Sandy Bexon is one of the upcoming resident artists at the Buttermaker’s House, visiting in the fall of 2026. She shared a link with the Creamery manager to her July 30th newsletter, and we love the feature article that she recently created for Historic Markerville that was attached.

Here is an excerpt from her recent newsletter: “Life in Retirement”, and a link to the feature “Golden Nuggets: Historic Markerville – a walk down memory lane”

Next adventure!
I’m happy to be the Artist in Residence at Historic Markerville at Thanksgiving, which is the perfect place to focus on a history book since it’s a living history hamlet itself!
I stopped by to donate some of my Moving Mountains books to the Markerville coffee shop as a fundraiser for all the good work these folks do to preserve and celebrate history – particularly Icelandic history. Beth [Huising], the Museum Manager, is with me in this photo and has been a wealth of information and support! Read more about the multiple historic sites of Markerville in my feature at this link.

*Images and articles courtesy of Sandy Bexon*

Hillman Family Photos

Above: Herman Hillman farm house built by sons John and Joe.

In mid-June 2026, Don Anderson contacted us to see if we wanted digital copies of several old photos of the Hillman families, to archive at the Markerville Creamery Museum.
Don’s great-grandfather was Herman Hillman, and grandmother was Lena (Hillman) Anderson.

Along with photos which include the names of the people in them, he donated a copy of “Grub-Axe To Grain”, a history of this area with pictures, that he described as “A must have.”

The timing was perfect: A Hillman Family Reunion is taking place in Markerville on the July 11th, 2026 weekend, and I’m sure they will love seeing these photos and perhaps adding some of them to their own collections! And our copy of “Grub-Axe To Grain” had been recently moved from public access to preserve it. Now that we have a like-new copy for the archives, we can bring the older one back for viewing.

The Creamery Museum is very appreciative of Don’s generosity, and thankful he reached out to share some historic photos from the Lena (Hillman) Anderson family.


Hillman family: Pete, John, and Harry.
Group Photo: Lena (Hillman) Anderson and two sons Edwin and Lloyd, with Edward (husband) Edwin’s wife Marian and grandchildren: Carol, Donald, Gerry, Allan and Marlene (in Lena’s lap).


Andersons: Lena (Hillman) and Edward Anderson.


By the Car: Lena, Edward, Edwin, Marian, Carol and Jerry around 1947.
Lena with sons: Edwin and Lloyd (Andy)
Group Photo: Top Row R-L | Edwin Anderson, Joe Davidson, Warren Davidson, Lloyd Anderson, Harold Davidson.
Middle Row | Marian Anderson, Eli Davidson, Edward Anderson, Winney and Lenora Davidson.
Back Row | Carol, Allan, Donald and Marlene Anderson, Bev Davidson, Gerry Anderson.