Now half a century old after being founded as part of the Bicentennial project, the Stanley Area Historical Society (SAHS) held a dinner Saturday, Oct. 17 to honor the Moon family and celebrate the new D.R. Moon Library addition, the dinner using donated china from the George and Margaret Moon Hipke household.
Held in the Alvin Mortenson room at the SAHS museum on Helgerson Street at 5:45 p.m. the dinner with over 30 invited guests was served by Stanley-Boyd Music Ambassadors to Europe students Easton Holmes, Vivian Morrow, Maya Milliren, Chloe Isenberger, and Koraline Pennala, as well as adults Becca Johnson and Becky Isenberger, and Sandy Thorson.
Ambassadors to Music is currently raising funds to tour Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland for two weeks.
As for the dinner Oct. 17, it started with a meet and greet at 5 p.m., a charcouterie board prepared by library director Elizabeth Miniatt and her sisters in the main lobby providing pre-dinner appetizers for guests. The dinner following included steak, carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a choice between water or non-alcoholic sparkling wine. Desert included a choice between strawberry, raspberry, cherry, and blueberry cheesecake.
SAHS Vice President Jean Ketterhagen greeted attendees at the door, while SAHS President David Jankoski gave pre-dinner remarks thanking those who had donated over the years as well as an unnamed anonymous donor who had made the night possible. Meal prayer was offered by Our Savior’s Lutheran member Darrel Diers.
Come dinnertime meanwhile it was back to 1900, with guests dressed in their best formal dress and assigned seating encouraging new discussion.
SAHS Museum Director Betty Plombon shared more on the seating arrangement and origin of the china.
“You will realize that you will not be seated with your spouse, and the reason is because it’s 1900 tonight,” she said. “And in 1900 they would purposely do that to ensure you had someone new to talk to.” Plombon shared that the dinnerware had come from Margaret Moon Hipke’s hope chest, bequeathed to her at age 16 in 1899. Moon was born around 1886 to Lawrence Gilman (L.G.) and Catherine Moon. Margaret’s father was Stanley’s first village president while her grandfather was the namesake of the D.R. Moon Memorial Library. Margaret grew up briefly at 901 Broadway Street (home since demolished) before moving west with her family in the early 1900s.
“Why is it named Moon Park?” Plombon said. “Because they owned the whole north of Stanley.” The Moon family contributed money to libraries and churches among their many endeavors.
“We are very appreciative of the Moons,” Plombon said. With the family leaving in the early 1900s for points west, Margaret later went on to marry Northwestern Lumber Company employee George Hipke at Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1908, coming back to Stanley to live and entertain guests at 825 North Broadway Street, the home later owned by the Mathwigs, another prominent local couple. George Hipke went on to become the mayor of Stanley from 1932 to 1935 and was also a local state representative, serving in both the state assembly and senate.
Later moved across the country as the Moon Hipke family left Stanley, the dinnerware arrived on a truck this summer to the Stanley Area Historical Society, donated by the family at Arizona. Rather than put it in storage, it was decided to host a dinner party.
George and Margaret are both buried today in Oakland Cemetery on Pine Street in Stanley.
Those wishing to help the Ambassadors of Music can contact Stanley-Boyd Choir Director Louella Derrico on how to donate to the Ambassadors of Music group.