In collaboration with Menomonie Moose Lodge, the Friends of Potter’s Field will hold a charcoal chicken dinner fundraiser on Saturday May 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Moose Lodge, 720 19th Avenue in Menomonie. Doors open at 4 p.m.

The Friends of Potter’s Field have been working to research burials and restore and maintain the cemetery for the past dozen years. Potter’s Field was the final resting place for Dunn County’s indigent and unlucky citizens from 1890 through 1952. Many of the burials are of people who had resided at the Dunn County Poor Farm or the Dunn County Asylum for the Chronic Insane. Research has documented at least 110 burials, including at least six veterans.

Funds raised at the chicken dinner will be used for ongoing maintenance, and toward providing a state historical marker along Highways 12/29 about Potter’s Field. Board members of the Friends of Potter’s Field will be present to answer questions and help serve the dinner.

The chicken dinner, which costs $15 per person, includes a quarter chicken, cheesy potatoes, coleslaw and dessert. 

David Williams is a Friends of Potter’s Field co-chair and retired UW-Stout administrator.

Go to dunncopottersfield.com for info on public access to this historic site.