By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — Eagles donates $10,000 to Friends of Bear’s Mill.

The donation took place Tuesday evening at the Eagles in Greenville. This donation will be used for phase two of the Mill’s preservation plan.

“It has been going on for two years now. We call it the Capital Campaign, and we do our own fundraising,” Secretary Kimberly Rudnick said.

It is strictly for the preservation and repairs that are going on under the mill. Rudnick advised that without these repairs, the mill will collapse. She credits The Eagles saying a large portion of the funds needed to maintain the mill have come from them over the years.

“The money the Eagles donate will go towards that specifically, so this donation brought – at least in the last two years, around $40,000 to the project,” Rudnick said.

Rudnick said the Friends of Bears Mill wish to recognize The Eagles for their generous donations because “it’s more than They’ve gotten from anybody in the community.” The Friends of Bears Mill are designed to look for ways to ensure the Mill and its history will be protected and remain open to the public for generations to come.

“The Mill itself has been around and standing since 1849, and it’s been in operation again since the early 80s,” Rudnick said.

President Levi Smith said the Mill was not in good shape before it opened in the 80s, and he continued to express his own gratitude to the Eagles for their support over the years saying they had been generous contributors for many years. The Friends of Bears Mill have completed phase one: completing the mill race itself.

“The mill race is the body of water that comes from the creak and is detoured under the mill. Well that mill race was deteriorating, so we cleared all that out and reconcreated the walls,” Rudnick said.

Phase two will be repairing the structure underneath the mill: the pillars, walls, and base, as they are starting to erode.

“The Keep the MillStones Grinding campaign is all about keeping the Mill standing, realistically,” Smith said.

He said at this point, if no one did anything to preserve it, it would collapse and not be functionable.

“It is a working mill,” Rudnick said. “We grind flour and our own products. We are one of two working mills in the state, if not the country.”

The Friends of Bears Mills board members are grateful for the local support they have received over the years, and hope to have the continued support in the years to come. If you would like to visit Bears Mill at 6450 Arcanum-Bears Mill Road, Greenville, their hours are Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. until 5. Demonstrations and tours can be scheduled upon request.

If you wish to donate or learn more about Bears Mill and the Friends of Bears Mill, visit their website at www.bearsmill.org/.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].