Historical Society memorial fund will honor Broom family

WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg Historical Society is hopeful that a soon-to-be established memorial fund, in recognition of the contributions of the Broom family, will provide dependable funding for the organization. The new Broom Memorial Endowment Fund will be active once the first $10,000 in seed money is received. The Historical Society is hopeful that the endowment will be funded by Jeff Broom’s memorial service on Memorial Day Weekend.

“Ever since I took over as treasurer, I have been concerned because we operate year-to-year,” said Historical Society Treasurer Susan Donegan. “Ending each year with only a couple of thousand dollars in the checking account is very concerning to me.”

The Society operates mainly from annual membership dues and a few grants that name the Society as a beneficiary, including the Hevel Fund and the Margaret Ganguet Fund, both managed by the Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF). Donegan says the Society also has a very small reserve fund, which they don’t want to tap into.

“We do not have an endowment. And everyone I’ve talked to in the towns around that that have a similar type of museum, all have endowment funds,” Donegan said.

Donegan said an endowment fund would be “for posterity,” and while it is not owned by the Historical Society, the annual disbursements would benefit the society and provide a dependable and ongoing budget.

“With Jeff’s passing, it occurred to me that it might be a good opportunity to recognize his contribution to the historical society, and more importantly, to recognize his parents along with that,” Donegan said.

Jeff’s mother, Roberta Stonecipher Broom, served on the original Waitsburg Historical Society Board, as curator, when the Society was established in 1971. Her husband, and Jeff’s father, Larry Broom, worked with attorney Vaughn Hubbard, to prepare a temporary set of rules and bylaws for the organization. Roberta, Larry, and later Jeff would continue to actively contribute to the work of the Historical Society until their deaths.

Roberta and Larry helped with the restoration of the Bruce House, which was completed with 100 percent volunteer effort.

“If we had to do that today, we couldn’t do it. I’m so amazed at what they did,” Donegan said.

Jeff served as Society president for a period of time and worked diligently to save and display pieces of the former Preston-Shaffer Mill that was destroyed by fire.

Historical Society President Tom Land and Donegan have submitted an application to the Blue Mountain Community Foundation to establish the Broom Memorial Fund for the Benefit of the Waitsburg Historical Society in Memory of Larry Broom, Roberta Stonecipher Broom and their son, Jeff Broom, to be known as The Broom Memorial Fund.

“We’ve been trying, the last few years, to get folks to think of us when they do their estate planning and leave us bequests. We’ve had a few generous people take us up on that, but not enough,” Donegan said.

Donegan said that by establishing an endowment fund through BMCF, community members will know that funds are being professionally managed, the principal will remain for posterity, and funds are not available to be spent frivolously.

“We're hoping that comfort knowledge will help liberate some generous pocketbooks,” Donegan said.

“An initial deposit of $10,000 is necessary to open the fund and we are hoping to raise that as-soon-as-possible, ideally prior to Jeff’s memorial service. Hopefully, through bequests and donations, we will be able to grow the fund to something substantial enough to give the Society a real level of financial comfort, which we have been lacking,” she added.

Donegan said she and Land spend a good amount of time writing grants to help proposals to fund projects such as the WP House foundation replacement and painting the WP House.

“That’s fine, but we need to have the knowledge that the Historical Society, and more importantly, those buildings, will have the financial support to be taken care of when we’re long gone,” she said.

Parties interested in learning more about the Broom Memorial Fund or making a donation can contact Donegan at (509) 386-2428 or Kari Isaacson at the BMCF at (509) 529-4371.

Waitsburg Historical Society

At-a-Glance

The Waitsburg Historical Society manages the Bruce Museum Complex which includes the Bruce House, the carriage house, the Wilson-Phillips House and garage, and a Preston-Shaffer Mill replica.

Annual events include:

Celebration Days Tours (Sat. before Memorial Day)

Pioneer Fall Festival (Third Sunday in Sept.)

Summer Museum Tours (by appointment at 509-337-6157)

School Pioneer Days (final week of school)

Support the Society through:

Annual membership fees ($25/individual; $50 family, $300 lifetime)

Choose the Waitsburg Historical Society as your Amazon Smile charity for online purchases

Monetary or endowmant donations

Donations are tax deductible.

Current board members:

Tom Land – President

Richard Hinds – Vice President

Susan Donegan – Treasurer

Anita Baker – Secretary

Margaret Terry – Curator

Meetings: Second Tuesday of the month 2 p.m.

May 14 at 2 p.m.

If new members are interested who can only meet at night evening meetings will be considered

Learn more at: waitsburgmuseum.org