DOWAGIAC — Next month, Dowagiac residents will have a chance to make history, while also keeping history alive in their city.

The Dowagiac Area History Museum will host its second annual Keep History Alive fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12 at the Dowagiac Elks Club, 300 Riverside Dr. The event will include a BBQ dinner, a cash bar, live music and silent and live auction items. Silent auction items will range in price and include event and sporting tickets, goods and services from local businesses, vacation getaways, original artwork and more. Tickets for the fundraiser are $30 in advance and $40 the day of the event.

“It should be a fun event with a casual feel,” said Museum Director Steve Arseneau.

All funds raised from the event will go towards the museum’s operating budget. Last year, the event raised more than $16,000 for the museum.

“We’ve had a lot of support for the event from community members and businesses, and we are hoping to have a repeat success this year,” Arseneau said. “We are hoping to grow even more from last year.”

Arseneau said the fundraiser, which is one of the largest for the museum, and others like it are necessary to keeping the Dowagiac Area History Museum running year to year.

“We are a department of the city, and as everyone knows, every department’s budget is stretched as thin as they can be, so anything the museum can do to raise its own funds through our membership program, through individual donations and through fundraising efforts like this really help to keep the museum budget at a good consistent level, so that we can continue to provide consistent programs and good services for the community,” he said.

Having seen the community embrace the museum and the impact is has had on Dowagiac, Areseneau said he believes that using funds to preserve the museum — and therefore Dowagiac history — is vital.

“Dowagiac has a good, unique history. Dowagiac’s story is important to be preserved and we have a really good collection that has been collected for decades here,” he said. “It’s important to maintain those collections, maintain telling those stories and keep people remembering how Dowagiac has evolved over the past 170 years of its history. It has moved from rural into an industrial town to now, what the community is today, with a large arts [community] and a community college. Showing how the community has transitioned over the years is important part of the community’s story.”

Arseneau said he hopes the community will turn out for the event to both support the museum and the preservation of Dowagiac’s history.

“It should be a great event,” he said. “We have a lot of great things in store for it.”

Tickets can be purchased at the Dowagiac Area History Museum. For more information, call (269) 782-2560.