We were already decorated for the Christmas teas, so we thought, ‘why not?”

Site Supervisor Ryan Kutcha

For more information on events at the LeDuc, visit the Dakota County Historical Society’s website at www.dakotahistory.org

LeDuc Historic Estate
1629 Vermillion St.
Hastings, MN 55033
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Residents, history buffs, and volunteers gathered beneath the stars at the LeDuc Historic Estate on December 21 to celebrate the shortest day of the year for the LeDuc’s first Winter Solstice Event. While the holiday calendar for the LeDuc has long decorated for Christmas to celebrate holiday teas and private events, this year Site Supervisor Ryan Kutcha wanted to celebrate the winter solstice: “We were already decorated for the Christmas teas, so we thought, ‘why not?’” It is an event celebrated across historic sites but not previously at the LeDuc.
Residents were able to escape from the cold to wander through the rooms of the estate, aided by volunteers like Judy Slink who tends the gardens at the estate. “There are more people than I expected,” said Slink. For Kutcha, he hopes the event will be the start of a new holiday tradition for the estate.
Outside, Hastings Area Historical Society President Spenser Johnson and volunteer Kyle Pike tended the fire as smores were roasted and figures gathered around the fire to sip hot chocolate and apple cider.
Despite the events, the LeDuc is currently in its off-season, and workers and volunteers alike have been cataloguing and arranging the slew of artifacts received from the Minnesota Historical Society in October. “We are still working on the big objects,” said Kutcha. The goal is begin incorporating these artifacts including original furniture like William and Mary’s bed and William’s writing desk, as well as objects from the family to trunks to William’s breastplate from the Civil War into tours beginning in 2025.
For more information on events at the LeDuc, visit the Dakota County Historical Society’s website at www.dakotahistory.org