Mine Day – Bluegrass, Science and Fun – Saturday, August 12!

PLATTEVILLE, Wis., July 28, 2023 —The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums invite you to join us on Saturday, August12, for Mine Day — celebrate place-based industry at this classic family festival of bluegrass music and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM)! No registration necessary for free live music, backyard activities, games, and demonstrations. Advance booking is recommended for UV Light Prospecting Mine Tours at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and half-price Museum admission, Guided Mine Tours, and unlimited train rides starting at noon.

Grab your blanket or lawn chairs and find a spot on the lawn in the Museum backyard for live bluegrass music by Prairie Lights String Band at 10:30 a.m., Holy Crowe at 12:30 p.m., and Genesee Ridge Band at 2:30 p.m Spark a lifelong passion for rock and mineral collecting with earth science games and activities available all day. Blacksmithing and other industrial craft demonstrations celebrate the pioneering spirit of ingenuity, inquiry, enterprise, and development that shaped our nook of the Driftless Area. The Badger Lapidary and Geological Society will be on site with gems and minerals for sale and display all afternoon.

Special UV Light Prospecting Mine Tours will be offered at 10 and 11 a.m. Experience the 1845 Bevans Mine in a whole new light — black light! Special UV-Light Prospecting Mine Tours provide an introduction to the fundamentals of UV prospecting, mineral fluorescence, and the fascinating natural history and cultural history of the Bevans Mine where Lorenzo Bevans "struck it rich" during the pre-Civil War Lead Rush. Or, enjoy half-priced standard Museum admission, Guided Mine Tour, and Train Ride starting at noon, with Mine Tours departing every 45 mintues. Advance booking is recommended.

“Mine Day is one of the most important Museum events of the year, connecting the knowhow and pioneer spirit of our nook of the Driftless Area with the unique landscape where the Badger State was born,” said Museum Director Erik Flesch.

The Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums concession stand will offer hot food provided in part by Platteville A&W Restaurant, plus cold beer and soft drinks. Four custom ice cream flavors featuring Driftless Area ingredients created for the Museum by Pioneer Sweets of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville will be available in the Museum Store.

Free games for kids will include panning for gems and minerals, Tommyknocker Sucker Pull, Plinko, Hard Hat Ball Toss, and more — with prizes that nurture interest in the hobby of rock and mineral collecting. You Dig-It! Treasure Kits will be available in two varieties in the Museum Store for a fabulous hands-on children’s activity at the Mini Mill Treasure Table that features cobbing, sifting and winnowing, and washing just like a real historic mill.

This year we will host special guest “Driftless Digger” Jim Winter for a demonstration of curious artifacts he has found across the region while he metal detects, bottle digs, creek walks and magnet fishes, all with the goal of preserving our past.

Winners of the Pick & Gad Raffle will be drawn at 3 p.m. This Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums benefit raffle offers a $500 Grand Prize, a $250 Second Prize, a $100 Third Prize, and ten $40 prizes. Interested in purchasing a raffle ticket? Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Museums between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday - Sunday. All proceeds benefit the 2023 Annual Fund and directly support Museum operations and Friends programs.

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums are located on Main Street in Platteville, Wisconsin, in the heart of the historic Upper Mississippi Valley lead-zinc mining region. Founded in 1965, the museum is a nearly three-acre campus with scenic greenspace, the underground 1845 Bevans Mine, and a 1930s-era narrow-gauge mine railroad pulled by a 1931 Whitcomb locomotive. The mission of the Museums is to continue in the pursuit of excellence in the areas of regional and mining history. To achieve that purpose, the Museums are commissioned to be custodians of the past; to interpret the rich lead and zinc mining heritage of the region; as well as to preserve, interpret, and display the artifacts that define Southwest Wisconsin. The Museums are open Wednesday – Sunday (Closed on Monday and Tuesday) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May to October. Cultural programs, special events, and virtual tours are offered year-round.

Follow The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. To reserve your UV Light Prospecting Mine Tours and half-price Guided Mine Tour and Train Ride, and for more information on current and upcoming programs visit www.mining.jamison.museum, call (608) 348-3301, or email museums@platteville.org.