News
T-Shirts Available for a Limited Time!
From now through May 20, you may purchase a “Deep Valley High School Class of 1910” cotton T-shirt. We're offering four options in combos of violet and light gray (Betsy's senior class colors).
The “women's style" structured T-shirt is a best-seller – customers rave about its flattering fit. The relaxed “softstyle" jersey T‑shirt is described as “lightweight and comfortable."
Order your shirt here.
Please complete a separate form for each shirt you'd like to order. Shirts are $28 plus $9 for shipping.
To go forward with a particular design, we need to have at least 25 orders (of that design) by May 20. If we meet that goal, we'll email you an invoice. You'll need to pay for your shirt before we place the order on May 23.
Happy shopping!
The Betsy-Tacy Houses Open for Public Tours on May 3!
Come visit us!
Donation Drive 2025!
We raised $37,736!
Thank you!!
On April 26, we wrapped up our yearly donation drive – to enable us to keep the Betsy-Tacy Houses open and continue the good work we've been doing and also to beautify the grounds and gardens at each House, so the exteriors are as lovely and inviting as the interiors we've worked so hard to restore and maintain.
To celebrate the Betsy-Tacy Society's 35th anniversary, our goal was to raise $35K by Maud's birthday – and we did it!
Note: See the 2025 Donor List here.
Though the campaign has “officially” ended, we will honor all contributions made this month (or even later, if you let us know that a donation earmarked for this drive is coming).
Donors at specific levels receive several lovely incentives:
✮ Every person who donates receives a link to our original "I Donated!" virtual stickers
✮ Anyone who donates $25 or more receives a lovely PDF of the cover to “A Guide to Some Betsy-Tacy Places in Mankato," signed by every Okto Delta (plus a few surprise guests)
✮ Anyone who donates $50 or more receives the signature sheet PLUS a beautifully formatted PDF culled from “Living With Writing," an unfinished how-to piece written by Maud
✮ Anyone who donates $100 or more receives the signature sheet, the “Living with Writing" excerpt, AND two beautiful e-cards we'll send to two friends of your choice, celebrating the friendships we've made through Maud and Betsy-Tacy
✮ Anyone who donates $200 or more receives the signature sheet, the “Living with Writing" excerpt, the e-cards, AND their choice of two new plants or items for the Houses' grounds and gardens and their name on a permanent list of Friends of Betsy's or Tacy's Garden
Note: See their choices here.
✮ Anyone who donates $500 or more receives the signature sheet, the “Living with Writing" excerpt, the e-cards, the Garden Friend opportunity, AND their choice of one of four books: Maud Hart Lovelace's Deep Valley, Discover Deep Valley, The Black Angels, or The Valentine Box (kindly donated by Julie Schrader)
✮ Anyone who donates $1,000 or more receives the signature sheet, the “Living with Writing" excerpt, the e-cards, the Garden Friend opportunity, the book, AND their own engraved paver in the walkway at Betsy’s House
If you prefer to send a check, make it payable to the Betsy-Tacy Society and send it to the BTS, 332 Center Street, Mankato, MN 56001. Please write “Donation Drive 2025" on the memo line.
If you have any questions about how the BTS spends its money, see our 2024 Annual Report or contact us directly.
The Betsy-Tacy Society is a 501(c)(3) organization, and your donation may be tax-deductible.
Also, please ask your employer if they will do a matching gift – many past donors have been surprised to know this was an option for them!
Thank you for your support!
Do You Remember Your First Time?
The Betsy-Tacy Houses reopen for our regular Saturday business hours on May 3, and we would love to add a few more volunteers to our roster. There is simply nothing like seeing someone enter Betsy’s House for the first time – and YOU could be the person who opens the door for them and witnesses this magical moment!
Whether you’re available for a weekly or monthly shift or can volunteer only occasionally, we will gratefully accept the gift of your time.
Tour guides: Saturday shifts are from 12:45 to 3:30 p.m., May–October (three total tours). We also need guides for private tours throughout the year. No experience required! Training is provided, we’ll give you a script, and you may shadow an experienced guide until you feel comfortable going solo.
Shop staff: Saturday shifts are from 12:45 to 3:45 p.m., May–October (the Shop is open 1–3:30). Training is provided – and again, you may shadow an experienced worker till you’re comfortable handling things on your own.
To learn more, please call (507) 345-9777 or email us. You can also download our Volunteer Application here.
Our Amazon Wish List
Want to be part of the Betsy-Tacy Houses and support our work in a very concrete and tangible way? Check out our Wish List on Amazon.com and see the various items we’d love to receive. (Many years ago, a member donated a new vacuum to Tacy’s House, and every time she visits she checks to see how “her” vacuum is doing! 🤣) We update this list regularly. Thank you for your support!
—> Looking for older News stories? They can be found here.
Events
The next Betsy-Tacy Convention will be October 10–12, 2025. Find the latest Convention news here:
Website: https://betsy-tacy-convention.square.site/
Facebook: facebook.com/BetsyTacyCon
Have an item to donate to our Silent Auction? Inquire here. Thank you!
Note: “Deep Valley Time” (i.e., Central Time) is our default when listing an event. To be sure that you’ve correctly calculated the time difference for your location, we suggest using an online world clock such as this one.
