Volunteer luncheon & statistics

This week we held our annual volunteer luncheon to thank our dedicated museum volunteer staff. The camaraderie was much appreciated, as was the catered lunch.

Fifty-nine active volunteers donate over 4,000 hours yearly to the programs and activities of the Benton County Historical Society, almost double the state average of 33 volunteers donating just under 2,000 hours*!

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

*Oregon Heritage Commission survey results 2010.

Museums Advocacy Day videos from American Association of Museums

Video clips of Members of Congress speaking about the value of museums during Museums Advocacy Day (March 22-23, 2010) are now available on the American Association of Museums advocacy website – www.speakupformuseums.org – and directly at: http://www.speakupformuseums.org/voices_for_museums.htm.

Portland in New York: Outposts of Precious | OregonLive.com

Portland in New York: Outposts of Precious OregonLive.com

Philomath-Siletz student cultural exchange

The Students were accompanied by 2 teachers and 3 parents.

They were joined by 21 TAG students from Philomath who made the trip to Siletz last April.[Photo]The students were treated to a Philomath history presentation by Theresa Rybel, retired Philomath teacher.

The group was divided into 4 groups that were led by Museum docents Marlene McDonald, Judy Juntunen, Kate Mathews and Marcia Cutler. They explored 2 “history trunks”, the “Can You Hear Me? Now?” exhibition and a tour of the backroom artifact storage in the Collections Center.

Following lunch at PYAC the group was thrilled by a presentation by the high school forestry class out in the demonstration forest.

A great day for the kids funded by a grant from the Benton County Foundation.

--Ron Thiesen

Local Lore: Snow On Marys Peak

The farmers and old timers who live in the shadow of Marys Peak instruct us to avoid planting tomatoes before the snow is melted from the Peak. This year we’ve gone all winter without snow, until now! So the forsythia and daffodils are almost done blooming, we’re on our second round of tulips, I for one am eager to plant the garden, and along came fresh snow on Marys Peak. Patiently, I’ll respect the elders and hold off planting tomatoes.

Volunteer Jim Micalek has been digitizing slides in our photograph archive and yesterday he made an interesting observation. He commented that we don’t have much snow in Benton County, so whenever it does snow everyone runs out and takes photographs. The result for historic record is a preponderance of snow photos that make it look like it’s frequently snowy here! I’m guilty, too, as I had to pause during my morning commute to take a quick photo of the beautifully frosted trees of Marys Peak.

MT