About 50 members of the Western Monroe Historical Society and their guests attended “Sara Manning’s Birthday Party” at the Morgan-Manning House on March 18. It was the 150th birthday celebration for Mrs. Manning, the last occupant of the historic home which bears her family’s name.
The party concluded with honored guest, Alicia Fink, unveiling a reproduction of an original oil painting of Susan Morgan (Sara’s mother). The portrait will hang in the first-floor hallway to be included in tours of the home. The original oil painting was found deteriorated in the home’s attic.
Don Voorheis and Gordy Fox, respectively president and vice president of the Society, paid tribute to volunteer Alicia Fink for her many years of dedicated service to the Society and to the historic home. They praised her fund-raising skills, organizational abilities (including four years as Society board president), and countless hours of work on the many details involved in running a non-profit organization.
Also, citing Ms. Fink’s decades of support for the school she adopted in the mountains of her native Ecuador, she was presented with a $1,000 contribution to the school. The gift came from donations by individual members of the Society’s board of trustees.
