‘Nostalgia Night’ Fundraiser proves successful for Historical Society campaign
A new fundraiser for the Merrill Historical Society in partnership with Chip’s Hamburgers brought the 1950s Drive-In days back to Merrill. (Remember in 2007 Chip’s Restaurant was voted one of Merrill’s 7 Wonders.) Costumed carhops, who were volunteers of the Historical Society, greeted cars and took orders from 3 until 8 pm on Monday, August 19th to raise awareness of the Society and their capital campaign to fund a preservation center; an addition to the current History & Culture Center. It was a fun and bustling night that even brought former Chip’s employees to eat those famous char-broiled burgers and reminisce.
Pat Burg, Treasurer of MHS, reported that proceeds of the 50/50 raffle and carhop tips amounted to just over $242. There were two drawings for the 50/50 raffle with prizes of $88 and $94 given away, and Tim & Sandy Moser, owners of Chip’s Hamburgers, pledged to donate 50% of the carhop sales to the Historical Society. Due to the tremendous public support, Chip’s rounded up that amount and donated $500 to support the Society. Chip’s is noted for being voted in as one of the Merrill Historical Society’s Seven Wonders of Merrill.
Community members cruised on in with classic cars to support this Merrill Historical Society Nostalgia Night Fundraiser! The Bluejay 96.3fm Jeep was on hand to provide the tunes in Chip’s parking lot. Even the President of the Merrill Ice Draggers, Cindy Opichka cruised on in with Chris Huitfeldt’s Punisher 1973 Cutlass from Wausau. MID Board of Directors member, Larry Krueger from Ringle had previously built an “igloo,” a 3-D mini version of the Merrill Ice Draggers logo, that had been on display during the 2019 Iola Car Show. He decided to bring it along to Nostalgia Night, given that Chip’s Drive-In is about the same age as the Merrill Ice Drags. Plans are underway to repeat this fun and successful Nostalgia Night event in 2020.