The Lake Minnetonka Historical Society (LMHS) will present a history cruise and walking tour of Big Island aboard “Her Excellency” on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tickets are $55 for LMHS members and $70 for nonmembers and are available at tinyurl.com/55rvn9jy.
For more information, contact LMHS at info@LakeMinnetonkaHistory.org or 952-474-2115.
The event will explore the unique and varied history of Lake Minnetonka’s Big Island by both lake and land.
Box lunches will be served as passengers cruise from Excelsior to Big Island and back on Wayzata Bay Charters’ “Her Excellency.”
Participants will then disembark for a guided walking tour of Orono’s Big Island Nature Park, where local historians will discuss the history of the island’s Native people, early settlers, Big Island Park, Big Island Game Farm and Big Island Veterans Camp.
Soft drinks and spirits will be available for purchase on board.
The Lake Minnetonka Historical Society tells the story of Lake Minnetonka by collecting, preserving and sharing its history.
The society was formed in October 2023 through the consolidation of the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society, the Museum of Lake Minnetonka, the Wayzata Historical Society and the Westonka Historical Society.
The new organization has one of the largest archival and three-dimensional collections of Lake Minnetonka history available in person and online. It maintains a Research Archives in Wayzata, as well as museums in Excelsior, Mound and Wayzata.
The society also shares the history of the lake through a variety of public programs and experiences, publishes books about the history of the area, and is committed to returning its historic 1906 streetcar steamboat Minnehaha to active operation on Lake Minnetonka as a floating museum.
For more information, visit LakeMinnetonkaHistory.org or contact the society at info@LakeMinnetonkaHistory.org or 952-474-2115.
