Loss Leaves Many Local Museums Short-handed

DAYTON – The March-December museum season is underway for Dayton's Smith Hollow School and the Palus Museum, but both are suffering the loss of local advocate Elizabeth Thorn, who passed away in February. Thorn helped make both local museums possible.

"Elizabeth is missed, but we carry on," said friend and fellow history lover Diane Longanecker. However, with Thorn gone the museums now lack a cadre of docents to fill all the shifts. Longanecker said the Blue Mountain Heritage Society is having to cut back on the hours that the Smith Hollow School and the Palus Museum will be open.

"Elizabeth had a passion for teaching folks about our area's past," Longanecker said. "As a docent, she herself filled 50 percent of the shifts at the museums. She served as a great ambassador, welcoming visitors to our community and sharing with them facts about our area's history."

The society is working now to find people who will serve as local museum docents. Rose Engelbrite, who worked closely with Elizabeth managing the museums, is searching for people who might be interested in being trained to become museum docents themselves.

Local resident Dallas Dickinson, who became a docent shortly after the Smith Hollow School opened, shared that being a docent is an interesting and rewarding experience. "It's an opportunity to learn more about our area's history," she said, "and then share that knowledge and welcome folks from all over who come to visit Dayton."

To find out more or to put your name in for this opportunity, contact Engelbrite at (509) 337-8875 or the Palus Museum at (509) 382-4820.