After putting so much focus on the city’s past, the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation is looking ahead to the future with the hire of its first full-time executive director. SBHSF President Laurel Hauser announced Monday that Michael Telzrow would be the organization’s leader. Managing non-profits with a historical bent is nothing new for Telzrow, who has had previous stints at Heritage Hill State Historical Park in Green Bay, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison, and the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. He also served other roles for the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Georgia and Green Bay’s Neville Public Museum. Hauser says it is exciting for them to bring someone like Telzrow to help guide them into the future after so many years of focus on saving the Teweles and Brandeis grain elevator and the Potawatomi State Park observation tower.

Saving two of the city’s landmarks is part of the reason why Telzrow is excited to join the SBHSF as its executive director. “As the new director, I look forward to enhancing the Granary’s civic value through meaningful exhibits and public programs, while also advancing the Foundation’s operational capacity and core mission,” said Telzrow. He will join Door County Granary project manager Nicole Matson to help get the facility opened by early 2025.