By DEBORAH BEHRENDS
Illinois Correspondent

DEKALB, Ill. — DeKalb Area Agricultural Heritage Assoc., Inc. (DAAHA) recently announced the hiring of its first two museum staff members.
Jennifer Abplanalp joins DAAHA as curator/educator. She has vast experience in archaeology and museum operations.

Before joining DAAHA, Abplanalp served as field and lab director for ECORP Consulting Inc. and volunteer docent at Lincoln Memorial Shrine, both in Redlands Calif. In her new position at DAAHA, she will be responsible for developing and presenting programs at the museum and in the public; developing and maintaining museum collections; and planning exhibits both in-house and traveling. She will also serve as the development officer for the organization.

Abplanalp has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a minor in biology from University of Illinois at Chicago (2003); a master’s in anthropology from Northern Illinois University (2008); a museum studies certificate from Northern Illinois University (2007), and is attending Harper Community College in the continuing education program - introduction to nonprofits.

For about 10 years, Abplanalp said she worked on contract archeological digs throughout the United States. Based on the funding, the digs, which she refers to as “shovel bumming,” could be as brief as a week or as long as several years.

“I was looking to get out of archeology and still use my degree. Plus, the people I work with here are awesome,” she said.

Elizabeth Horoszko will serve as intern for DAAHA through the end of the year. In this position, she will be responsible for inventorying, cataloging and entering into a database, all of the many donated items to the DAAHA museum, as well as assisting the curator/educator with program development.

Horoszko’s experience includes graduate assistant to the Heritage Assoc. program, coordinator at Eastern Illinois University; exhibit creator and assistant at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, Aurora, Ill.; and student assistant at the Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures in Aurora. She has a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in museum studies, earned in 2010 from Aurora University, and she is working on her master’s degree in history with an option in historical administration.

DAAHA is a 501c3 non-profit corporation dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing with people of all ages the storied history of agriculture and its innovators in northern Illinois. Agricultural exhibits, which are growing over time, are in the process of being inventoried and exhibit hours will be announced soon.

The museum is located at the Nehring Gallery at 111 S. Second St. in DeKalb. For more information on the exhibits, to schedule an appointment for viewing, for information on becoming a member of or volunteer with DAAHA, or to donate memorabilia, call 815-757-5959.