News
Annual Donation Drive 2026
Total raised: $36,784!
The BTS Annual Donation Drive is our biggest fundraiser of the year. Our goal was to raise $35K by April 11 – and with your help, we did it!
In addition to covering our largest ongoing expenses (keeping two historic houses in good shape and accessible to visitors and paying our wonderful staff), a portion of donations of $200 or more will go toward this year’s important goal:
“Beloved Books Outreach”
We are ready to literally get the books into more readers’ hands and build partnerships to help us spread the good word of Betsy-Tacy – and we have SO MANY ideas for how to do this! One thing that will be especially helpful is having individual editions of the books to work with, rather than the larger combo volumes. The challenge is that – with the exception of the first four books – individual versions are no longer being printed.
This is where our donors come in! We are using a portion of the funds raised to purchase your favorite titles from online booksellers and will then use them in our planned outreach: engaging elementary-school teachers and homeschooling families in Mankato, reaching out to libraries in states where we have few members, stocking Little Free Libraries, etc. etc.
Each book we share will contain a sticker with info about the Betsy-Tacy Society and – if the donor chooses – their name and why they especially love this particular title.
Thank you for your support!
Celebrate Maud’s Birthday at the Houses!
Maud Hart was born after midnight on April 25 (which is another way of saying . . . April 26!!), but she was told for most of her life that her birthday was the 25th, the same as her beloved Aunt Maud’s. Who are we to argue with tradition?! Please join us for some birthday fun at the Betsy-Tacy Houses on April 25!
Each one-hour block (1–2, 2–3) is packed with lively activities:
▪️ Self-guided tours of Betsy’s House
▪️ A Scavenger Hunt at Betsy’s House
▪️ Shopping at Tacy’s House
▪️ Refreshments at Tacy’s House
▪️ A craft project at Tacy’s House
▪️ Weather permitting: outdoor games
▪️ An excerpt from the "sand store" chapter of Betsy-Tacy read aloud
▪️ A serenade of songs from the era by a local trio
We'll wrap up each hour by singing "Happy Birthday" to Maud – our beloved writer who taught us all 86 years ago that the BEST present is the present of a friend.
You are welcome to drop in, but we strongly recommend buying tickets ahead of time because space is so limited. Tickets are $10 for the first person in your party and $5 for every other person.
We hope to see you soon!
A New Betsy-Tacy Book for the First Time in 70 Years!
We worked with The Creative Company on a 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐬𝐲-𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 called Betsy-Tacy for Small Children.
With beautifully colored illustrations (the originals by Lois Lenski!) and a simple adaptation of Maud's words and stories, this hardcover edition will captivate the youngest readers and serve as an early introduction to the world of Betsy-Tacy.
We are simply thrilled with this sweet new book, and we hope you – and your littlest friends – love it too.
p.s. The subtitle is an homage to Lois Lenski's “Small" characters (Farmer Small, Papa Small, Engineer Small, Pilot Small, etc.)!
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
Click here to see our 2026 Events Calendar.
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.
