Sherman County Historical Society and Museum Open Daily 10 until 5 May through October |
| Contact: Sherry Kaseberg 541-442-5514 News release. October 26, 2002
The Sherman County Historical
Society is celebrating the successful completion of the Museum's 20th summer
season at a volunteer appreciation event in Moro on November 3. From modest
beginnings in 1983 in the building donated by the American Legion Post in
Moro, the Society's remarkable Museum Host program has grown to a model of
community teamwork and service. Volunteer Coordinator Dorothy Benson of Kent
recruits, trains, supervises and celebrates Museum Hosts who receive praises
for their friendly services and a clean shop!
Over 50 Museum Hosts provide
visitor services and daily museum operations in rotation,
once-twice-or-thrice a month in teams of two or three, and are required to
attend annual training and review, adhere to Society policies and provide
services to visitors. Members of this team in 2002 are: Alice Archer,
Charlotte Barnett, Dorothy Benson, David & Sharon Bohl, Christy Brown,
Susan Brown, Gertrude Buether, Patty Burnet, Barbara Cantrall, Chet &
Reatha Coats, Arlea Cole, Carol Conlee, Mary Curtis, Joan DeGrange,
Vada DeMoss, Penny Eakin, Eilene Eslinger, Nancy Fields, Ed &
Shirley Fritts, Shannon Hansen, Dorothy Heater, Elden Hinds, John &
Elaine Kalista, Larry & Sherry Kaseberg, Karen Kellogg, Mary Ann King
(formerly Muzechenko), Debbie Kratzer, Mary Jo Lane, Anthony & Nancy
Lanni, Helen Macnab, Mary Anne Macnab, Carole Makinster, Myrna Melzer, Nell
Melzer, Mavis Olsen, Marcie Paull, Yvonne Pouget, Leta Ann Reckmann, John
Shipley, Mike & Margaret Smith, Margaret Snider, Margie Stark, Swede
& Dorothy Stark, Don Thompson, Vivian Todd, Don & Marta von Borstel,
Pat von Borstel, Beth Webb, Joe & Sheila Weber, Ardeth Woods.
In addition to Museum Hosts,
the Museum Team operates behind the scenes, supervised by Museum Coordinator
Sherry Kaseberg. Pat von Borstel chairs the Acquisitions Committee
comprising Charlotte Barnett, Erling Jacobsen, Yvette Hamilton, Penny
Eakin, Dean Wilcox, M.D., Pat Macnab, Myrna Melzer and Mary Lou Dennis. The
Museum collections are managed by Mildred Berge and Mary Ann King who recently
relocated. Working on the Exhibit Team during production of the exhibit,
Cultivation, Conservation and Clothespins, were Exhibit Team Chair
Myrna Melzer, Team Leader Sherry Kaseberg, carpenter/artisan David Fritts,
exhibit designer Cameron Kaseberg, Joe and Sheila Weber, Susan Brown, Mary
Anne and Sandy Macnab, Mary Ann King, Jim Manning, Mary Beth Smith, Nancy
Fields, Shirley Fritts and Erling and Pat Jacobsen, with support of goods
and services of many generous others. Pat von Borstel is responsible for
exhibits on the Museum's multiple-paged display units.
Cal McDermid is responsible
for education and outreach, Mary Anne Macnab and Myrna Melzer for the
buildings and grounds and Sherry Kaseberg, Janet Pinkerton and Cal
McDermid for publications. The Museum Store Team, Carrie Kaseberg,
Cathie Martin and Patti Moore, operate a profitable business to support
the Museum. The Museum's only paid personnel serve on the Security Team.
Lisa Shafer, Carol Conlee, Mary Ann King and Tammy Thompson open and
close the Museum in daily rotation, disarming and arming the security
system and operating the surveillance system.
The Museum has expanded in
phases since 1983, and in 1992 opened the lobby, entrances and The
Museum Store while the new wing was under construction. The new wing was
opened, along with the first interpretive exhibit, Oregon Trails, Rails
and Roads, in 1993. In 1994 the Museum received the coveted Albert B.
Corey Award for vigor, imagination and scholarship shown in its work by
the American Association for State and Local History...something like an
Oscar for a small, all-volunteer-operated museum. Between 1994 and
1996 the footbridge was constructed to connect the Museum to Highway 97
traffic, the Society's vacant lot on Highway 97 was developed with a
Visitor Information Kiosk and landscaping to market the County and the
Museum, and the second interpretive exhibit was completed, Wheat Through
the Ages. The next phase was the construction of a steel farm shed, 108'
x 35' to house a post-horsepower exhibit, Cultivation, Conservation
and Clothespins, which opened in August, still a work in progress.
Juggling several projects
during reconstruction of the main street in Moro by Oregon Department of
Transportation, Society volunteers removed plants and structures from
the lot on the highway in order to install a retaining wall and fill to
the level of the new sidewalks. The Visitor Information Kiosk, Museum
sign and landscaping are restored to the site with a brand new look
that cannot escape notice of travelers.
Serving on the Board of
Trustees are Erling Jacobsen, Dorothy Benson, Sherry Kaseberg, Susan
Brown, Joan DeGrange, Nancy Fields, Mary Anne Macnab, Myrna Melzer and
Cal McDermid. For another view of Museum activities see www.shermanmuseum.org.
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