Volunteer opportunity: Waitsburg Historical Society

While nearly all communities depend on volunteerism in some form or another, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that small towns like Dayton and Waitsburg would fail to function without the concern and dedication of the many volunteers that help keep them running. In this monthly column, The Times will highlight local volunteer opportunities in Waitsburg and Columbia County.

With the annual Pioneer Fall Festival justcompleted, it seems appropriate to highlight the Waitsburg Historical Society, the group who successfully organized the popular community event for nearly 50 years.

Like many local groups, the Historical Society is in need of younger volunteers to assume responsibilities, or lend a hand, to those who have been volunteering for decades.

“We are in dire need of volunteerism. The people who are there work really hard, but we need new blood badly,” said President Tom Land.

“And we’re all wearing five hats. It can’t continue,” added Treasurer and Corresponding Secretary Susan Donegan.

Land said there are about a half-dozen active volunteers.

Donegan said they would love new members who would be active throughout the year, but said the group is more than happy to accept whatever time and skill donations are available.

She said the group would welcome help setting up or tearing down before and after the fall festival, help with marketing and with keeping the website and social media updated. Marketing for the Fall Festival was listed as a top need

“We understand if people don’t want to commit to a year-long commitment of being on the board. But if people are willing to step up on these one-off projects that they can do on their own time and can do virtually from the comfort of their own home, we can put them to work,” Donegan said.

“If someone has a skill or talent such as carpentry or painting and let us know they are willing to do a project that takes x number of days or x number of hours, we would find something for them to do,” she added.

Land said there are always ongoing maintenance and upkeep needs at the museum buildings. Currently, an old printing press housed in a building downtown needs moved to the museum where it can be assembled.

Donegan said the Historical Society is putting together a list of docents who are willing to take visitors on a tour of the Bruce House Museum. She said the tour is scripted, so docents are not required to memorize the information.

“If we have a large list, no one has to do it more than once or twice during the whole season,” Donegan said. “If someone is willing to do it even once a season, that’s great. We’ll take that and won’t call them again.”

Current board members are President Tom Land, Vice-President Richard Hinds (who is on sabbatical), Treasurer/Publicist/Membership/Corresponding Secretary Susan Donegan, Recording Secretary Anita Baker and Curator Margaret Terry. Linda Hermans helps with textiles and organizes the annual vintage fashion show and Mary Phillips helps with many of the W-P house rotating displays.

Land does the bulk of the grant writing and said he would gladly accept help writing and searching out grants.

The Society just received a $2,500 grant for archival supplies through the Warren Fund. They also applied to the Wildhorse Foundation for the first time and received a $6,000 grant to paint the upper story of the Wilson-Phillips house.

“We’re very grateful for that,” Donegan said.

The Historical Society is funded through membership fees and has two permanent endowment grants, the Hevel and Ganguet funds.

“We are trying to establish a long-term endowment fund as a memorial to the Broom family, but that is only about halfway funded and we haven’t reached the minimum for it to be activated yet,” Donegan said.

Donegan and Land asked that community members consider the Broom endowment fund when doing their estate planning. All funds are managed directly by the Blue Mountain Community Foundation.

Donations of all kinds; financial, time and skills are all welcomed, they said.

“Tell us how much time you have to dedicate to something or let us know of a special area of interest and we will find something for you to do,” Donegan said.