NEW---- support TROTOM
with an online donation!

TROTOM has established a way for you to support our museum through a secure online portal.

Just click HERE or scan the QR code at left, and you'll be directed to the portal, where you can contribute to TROTOM's efforts to renovate the historic building at 7 South Elm Street and turn it into a campus of the museum, focusing on the Featherbone Company and the Warren family that established it.

The museum is a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit entity dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the history of the region of Three Oaks.

Riding the Apple Cider Century?
Learn the history behind Three Oaks' big ride

Thousands of cyclists will descend on our area on the last weekend in September to ride in the Apple Cider Century. The ACC has been

bringing biking enthusiasts to Harbor Country for more than a half-century, and has a rich history to tell.

Learn that history with the museum's documentary, "Small Town, Big

Ride". ACC founder Bryan Volstorf (looking confused, at right) and his children tell the story of the event, including some of the lean early years and missteps they had to endure before the Apple Cider Century flourished.

It's a fun ride, and DVD copies of "Small Town, Big Ride" are available at the museum (5 Featherbone Avenue in Three Oaks) when the museum is open (12-5 PM, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays). The DVD is only $10, and is a fun gift for the cyclist in your family.

If you can't get to the museum, order by mail. Send a $15 check made out to TROTOM to us at PO Box 121, Three Oaks, MI 49128 and we'll mail you a copy. Be sure to include your address with your order!

Happy cycling to all on September 28th!

Museum kicks off fundraising to
restore Three Oaks' "mystery building"

The building at 7 South Elm Street, recently donated to the museum, has been something of a mystery for decades. It hasn't been occupied since the 1980s, but it has a long and interesting history.

On Saturday, August 16, a few dozen generous donors gather at the building, enjoying drinks and light bites, and heard about the fascinating history of the building and the agricultural empire that its occupants managed.

We plan further events at 7 South Elm, hoping to raise money to restore the building to its 1933 origins and house exhibits in it. Keep checking this website for future opportunities to see the "mystery building".

Dozens of visitors got a look at a unique, 45-year-old car on display outside the museum in Sunday, July 13. Only 250 Clenet I autos were made in Southern California back in 1978, and one of them resides in Three Oaks! The car's "cool factor" was such that Farrah Fawcett, Sylvester Stallone, Julio Iglesias, Rod Stewart, and heavyweoight boxing champ Ken Norton all owned Clénet's.

Ron Zarantenello read about the car as a kid and vowed to own one someday. Today, he keeps the Clénet at this Three Oaks home. Thanks, Ron, for letting us display this stunning piece of automotive history.

Museum receives donation of the
Warren Oil & Gas Building

Museum visitors check out
"Three Oaks' coolest car"

At a "handover ceremony" on the morning of June 12, the museum accepted the donation of the historic building at 7 South Elm Street in Three Oaks, and agreed to turn the building into a display space.

Donor Jim Barkhurst signed the building (built in 1932-33) over to the museum on the condition that it would house displays about the Warren family and its many businesses-, which were the economic lifeblood of the area for decades.

Two of those businesses-- E. K. Warren and Son and the Warren Oil & Gas Company-- operated in the building from the 1930s until the 1980s. The building has been unoccupied since then.

The museum has already begun work cataloguing the building's contents (which included the original blueprints for 7 South Elm) and will begin a capital campaign to restore the building, as close as possible, to its original 1930s elegance.

The new display space, which will augment, rather than replace, the existing museum, will be named in memory of Josephine Warren Hoffman (pictured below), the granddaughter of E. K. Warren and the president of the Oil & Gas Company in the 1980s. The museum thanks Jim Barkhurst and appreciates his confidence in our ability to tell the story of the Warrens, a story which has had such a profound effect on the history of our area.

On the evening of May 1st, a great crowd of our members and volunteers gathered at the museum to get a "sneak peek" at what's new for 2025...and enjoy snack and drinks.

The next day at noon, the museum opened its doors for this year. We'll welcome visitors from now through the end of October-- 12-5 PM, Friday through Sunday. There's no admission charge, though a donation of $3 is appreciated. We look forward to seeing you!

Museum's 2025 season
is underway!

PrancerPalooza provides holiday cheer
and a nostalgic return of movie cast and crew

35 years after the Three Oaks area provided the charming setting for the filming of Prancer, some of the film's stars came back to town on December 14 for a celebration dubbed PrancerPalooza. Rebecca Harrell, who played Jessica Riggs, the little girl at the heart of the movie, attended, as did Rutanya Alda (Aunt Sarah) and Belinda Bremner (Miss Bedelia).

The film's director, John Hancock (still an area resident) and film editor Dennis O'Connor and other crew members were also on hand. A. J. Workman, who helped control the robotic reindeer used in the movie, came all the way from

Oklahoma, bringing with him some fantastic print illustrations of movie scenes and of Prancer done by his fellow reindeer operator John Brunner during delays that are a part of every filmmaking experience. He gave the first print of the illustration at right to Prancer's producer, Raffaella De Laurentis.

Sam Elliott (John Riggs) had planned to attend but is no longer able to come, due to an unexpected professional commitment. Mark Rolston (Herb Drier) also planned to attend, but had to drop out after a hiking injury that required surgery.

Cast members who have passed away-- Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda, and Michael Constantine among them-- were remembered throughout the weekend.

The film itself was shown three times at the Vickers Theatre, each screening followed by a Q-and-A session, with performers and crew members recalling their movie-making experiences in Michiana in 1989.

At 4 PM, cast & crew were hailed in a PrancerPalooza parade that wound down Elm Street Between Maple and Linden. They rode in sleighs decked out in Christmas finery, accompanied by "rein-dogs" (pooches wearing antlers) and even a pony and a couple of llamas!

The parade ended just outside Three Oaks Heritage Hall, where the museum displayed the scale model of Three Oaks village used in the film's final scene, along with a slide show showing more that 100 images of the cast and crew at work on the streets of Three Oaks and other Michiana sites.

PrancerPalooza was a joint effort of the museum, Three Oaks Village, and the village's Downtown Development Authority. The festivities shifted to LaPorte the next day, where cast and crew answered questions at a screening at the city's Civic Center.