This weekend the Ellwood House, 509 N. First St., held its first “Wine on the Terrace” event, which unfortunately became “Wine in the Visitor’s Center” due to inclement weather.

The event was a wine tasting benefit to help re-carpet the visitor’s center, which is a heavily used area by schools, organizations and DeKalb citizens to host meetings and other events.

Though tickets were somewhat expensive at $50 a piece, it was well worth the price as visitors were able to sample over 36 different kinds of wines from around the world, tour the museum and enjoy fancy hors d’oevres and cheeses while listening to live music. Twenty dollars of each ticket went straight to the Ellwood House Association to help purchase new carpeting along with the proceeds from silent auctions of wine and cheese gift baskets.

The variety of different wines came from Inboden’s of DeKalb, and a number of wine distributors gave more information about the succulent wines as patrons moved through the museum.

It was rainy outside, but elegant inside at the Ellwood House, and the warm, inviting staff made it difficult to leave the museum. Each well-educated member had a unique story to tell about the Ellwood family, shedding light on different aspects of not only DeKalb’s history, but America’s as well.

The mansion is a valuable asset to DeKalb, but not many people truly take the time to appreciate it.

“Many people from NIU come through here, but usually not until after they graduate,” said Donna Gable, coordinator of Volunteer and Visitor Services. “They come with their new families because they’ve always wondered about that big mansion they never visited as a student.”

The grounds are owned by the DeKalb Park District, so the Association only maintains the grounds outside of the museum and mansion. The Association also has to pay for the rest of the maintenance and the cost to run the spectacular buildings.

“The admission in the mansion and the cost of tours only pays for 20 percent of the money it costs to run the museum,” said Museum Director Gerald Brauer.

The Ellwood House Association hopes that they can continue this benefit every year to gain more support for the museum, but they mentioned there are other benefits throughout the year to watch for. In the meantime, people can visit the museum anytime and enjoy a free admission to the exhibits in the visitor’s center, and the grounds are always open for the public to enjoy.

Students can find a discounted coupon for admission in the NIU student phone book.