Museum Happenings

By Deanna Twedt

Business is back in full swing at the Powder River Historical Museum! The month of June was quite productive for the volunteers and board members who have put in time and effort into the museum. Without them we wouldn’t have had our doors open to visitors nor been able to conduct projects within the last few weeks. We are happy to announce that we have sixteen volunteers helping out this summer!

Various actions took place throughout June. For starters, Kate Ruland designed logos that Powder River Petals then put on t-shirts, mugs, magnets, stickers, and tumblers for us. So now the museum has new merchandise. In regards to sale inventory, Shane Dunning advised historical books that should be put on sale, which is scheduled to be added this week.

In addition, Shane Dunning has been installing new LED lights in the library and front room of the main building. Internet was installed for the first time, so as to provide Internet access for the Geospatial Camp, which took place at the museum for three consecutive days. Diana Edwards and Jane Giacometto donated two beautiful glass cases to house the new elephants that once belonged to Mac McCurdy. Deanna Twedt vacuumed the military uniforms as they needed some care. Peg boards have been going out to interested buyers, so as to clean up space in a back shed to make room for a new display. Illa Dee Talcott has continued to tag new acquisitions and keep track of obituaries for future family research. Kathy Heidel has been keeping track of acquisitions and Pat Ridenour has helped with other secretarial work. Tracy Smith has been instrumental in organization behind the desk and putting gunlocks on the displayed guns. Every volunteer has been wonderful greeters and helpers in any way that they can. We appreciate every one of them!

Kate Ruland has continued to add educational items to the Wildlife Room--our newest edition which features Johnny and Cody Morris’ headmounts, mammoth bones from the Verwolf family, Triceratops bones, and fossilized squid. Plans are being made for a new display in the schoolhouse and for a Reynolds’ Battlefield display to be moved to the front room of the main building.

The Barnharts and Jaeger Held helped move Ruth Newmiller’s salt and pepper shaker collection from the front room to the living room area. Kate and Delaney Ruland, as well as Shane Dunning, aided in rearranging sewing machines in this room and relocating the radios to the Broadus Town Room.

Our biggest highlight of the month was being able to host Charlene Porsild and Jacob Rosen from The Foundation for Montana History on June 19. They gave a talk on historical preservation, grants, and advice on how to proceed with project ideas. Krista Gotfredson catered lunch and a tour was given to the visitors afterwards. Roughly sixteen people were in attendance with wonderful discussion, and everyone learned a lot.

June was certainly productive and not every action has been described as the list would be too long. So to move forward with plans for July!

The Art and Soul Club has been kind enough to collaborate with us for the next few weeks of summer! This continuous event called Artists in Action, will take place for at least three Tuesdays in the following weeks. There will be a couple artists in attendance from 10am-2pm in the front room of the museum. They will have art/photography for sale and will be working on a project at the same time. Here is the following schedule:

July 16 - Lana Kay Smith and Sonja Harrington

July 30 - Laura Lee Ullrich, Connie Barnhart, and Kate Ruland

August 13 - Ronda Gatlin and Jan Stevens

These artists would love to see you stop by, browse their work, and visit about their art. They work hard all year round for opportunities like this!

Here’s to the next few weeks of summer!

Submitted By,

Deanna Twedt