"Plans for the First Annual Antique Show and Sale 'A Day in the Country' by our Questers chapters under the name of Restorations of Kane County are forging ahead. It will be a station wagon tail gate show in the barn yard next to the Durant House at the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve on June 2 (rain date June 3)," declared the April 1973 newsletter of the Fox Valley Questers. Members of the Questers would help create the non-profit Restorations of Kane County in 1974 which is now Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.
For 27 years, this late spring event was well-attended and brought in a large portion of donations needed to operate the organization. Dozens of antique dealers spread out on the lawn of the Durant-Peterson House Museum and in the barn across the parking lot to sell their wares. Docents in period dress gave demonstrations on spinning, weaving, cooking, and more. After the Sholes School was moved to the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve, the Pioneer Sholes School Preservation Society sold donated food to raise money for the restoration of the school.
Without the consistent success of this fundraising event, Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley would have been unable to rehabilitate the Durant-Peterson House or Beith House or advocate for the preservation of many of the historic properties that give the Fox Valley its distinct character.
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