The Sherman County Historical Society’s mission is to gather, preserve, research, interpret, and exhibit objects and materials related to Sherman County, Oregon. The Society, which operates the Museum, was organized in 1945 and is members and volunteer driven. The Museum comprises 16,000 square feet and over 15,000 artifacts used in Native American families, Oregon Trail migration, rural households, churches, schools, businesses, livestock production, dry-land wheat farming and conservation, military units and patriotic efforts. The museum is the 1994 recipient of the American Association for State and Local History’s prestigious Corey Award for vigor, scholarship and imagination… something like an Oscar for small volunteer operated museums!
– Sherman County Museum website –
1940-19501950-19601960-19701970-19801980-19901990 - 20002000-20102010-2020
| Date | Event | People |
| 4th of July, 1945 | Sherman County Historical Society was formed at Moro Park at a picnic with 114 people present. It was decided that the name would include Historical Society rather than Pioneer Association. | First officers: Theodore Johnston, E.D. McKee, Mrs. Theodore von Borstel, A.H. Barnum and Giles French.
Committee to write the constitution and bylaws: G. Herbert Root, Marie Barnett Cooper, Wily Knighten, Gus Engstrom and T.M. Rolfe. Theodore Johnston designed the seal that was drawn by Charles Ruggles. |
| 2 June 1946 | The annual picnic site was chosen, DeMoss Springs, so as not to be in any of the towns. | First speaker: State Treasurer Leslie M. Scott. Program included P. Waldo Davis on the bells, Tom Fraser singing Sweet Oregon, Rufus Quartet, Webb Quartet, the Orville Ruggles’ and Miss Trounce on the piano. |
| Unknown | One-acre tract at the John Day River Oregon Trail Crossing. | Donated by Al Merritt who lived there. Corners of this tract are not marked. |
| Date | Event | People |
| October 1951 | The Society placed a bronze plaque on a stone from the Art Barnum ranch on a one-acre tract donated to the Society by Al Merritt at the Old Oregon Trail Crossing at the John Day River. | Walt Meacham spoke at the dedication. The stone was placed by Ted von Borstel, Lester Barnum, Walter Bruckert and Oscar Ruggles. |
| 1953 | Fall meetings of the Society were started, alternating between Grass Valley and Wasco. The June meeting was established at DeMoss Springs or, if needed because of weather, at Moro in later years. | - |
| 1953 | The Society sponsored an essay contest for 5th and 6th graders and 7th and 8th graders and awarded 12 prizes. | County winners were Keith Mobley for The Old Military Road and Susie Woods for Old Buildings in Moro. |
| 1959 | Historical costumes for the annual picnic were the order of the day to commemorate Oregon’s centennial. | - |
| 1959 | The Society purchased 12 signs to mark The Dalles Military Road through the County. | Mike Mulick, Orville Ruggles, Bob Ferrell, Frank Sayrs, Carroll Sayrs and Theodore Johnston set the signs. |
| Date | Event | People |
| 1960s | Talk of a museum began and many disappointments followed. | - |
| - | Annual membership meeting and occasional field trips. | - |
| Date | Event | People |
| - | Annual membership meeting and occasional field trips. | - |
| Date | Event | People |
| October 1982 | Chris Schultz Post # 71 donated their 80’ x 35’ concrete block community building in Moro to the Historical Society for use as a museum. isHi | Trustees: Carsten von Borstel who led the Society into the Museum business, Patty Moore, Sherry Kaseberg, Wendell Clodfelter…. From October 1982 to June 1983, Trustees developed goals and priorities, raised funding for a new roof in June, painted inside and out, had an energy audit, purchased new steel doors, insurance, filing cabinets and lighting, and had electrical work brought up to code. David Fritts was hired to build birch and glass exhibit cases and make building modifications.
Editors: Moore, Belshe and Kaseberg. Patty Moore selected the name. |
| November 1982 | Oregon Trail tour. | First of three trips sponsored by the Society. |
| 1983 | First two twice-yearly issues of Sherman County: For The Record and the newsletter, The Plow | Editors: Moore, Belshe and Kaseberg. Patty Moore selected the name. It was printed at the Valley Herald in Milton-Freewater. |
| Summer 1983 | The Museum opened in July with a small corps of volunteers to greet visitors three afternoons a week. | A grand opening & annual meeting was held in June to receive gifts and loans of artifacts. Officers: Sherry Kaseberg, Barbara Sharp and Patty Moore. Museum opened to the public three afternoons a week in July. July-September 358 visitors, 265 from our County and 93 from out of the county. Volunteers: 287 hours. |
| Fall 1983 | First professional assistance: Museums 101 | Lucy Skjelstad, Director of Horner Museum at Oregon State University, came to Moro to deliver a one-day course in museum operations. It is remembered as the “drinking from a fire hose” day – seven hours of taking notes. Prioritized lists made by the Board. County fair parade & display. |
| 20 November 1983 | Florence & Theodore Johnston cut the ribbon for the dedication of the original wing of the Museum. | The Dalles Military Road bus tour from Malcolm McDermid’s near the Deschutes River to S of Kent. A case was built to house Society picture boards. Track lighting. Recognition plaques, mannequins, typewriter, archival storage supplies, and a sign for the front of the Museum designed and constructed by Sister Krista von Borstel. |
| 1982-1983 | - | Trustees: Carsten von Borstel, Wendell Clodfelter, Sherry Kaseberg, Bertha Belshe, Patricia Moore, Gordon Hilderbrand, Raymond Van Gilder and Barbara Sharp. |
| 1984 | Internal Revenue Service Letter of Determination 17 September 1984 | Established Sherman County Historical Society of Oregon, Second and Dewey Street, Moro, Oregon 97039 as private non-profit organization. |
| 1984 | Activities | Oregon Museums Association’s Evaluation Team made a two-day assessment and recommendations. New lists – goals – and a professional vocabulary emerged. Had a set of six postcards made. Installed an electrical furnace and wiring. DeMoss family recognized at the annual meeting in June. Oregon Museums Association sent a technical assessment team of three museum professionals for a two-day assessment, assistance, recommendations and advice. Security and smoke alarm systems installed. Potluck meeting in the fall. Bus tour on the Barlow Cut-Off route. New furnace & wiring, security system and smoke alarms. |
| 1984 | Visitors and Members: | 873 visitors during the six-month season, 568 in-county, 305 out. 36 volunteers for 775 hours. |
| June 1985 | Annual meeting. | Speaker: Linda Brady Mountain, Director of Maryhill Museum of Art. Trustees: Pat Macnab and Glenn Virtue. Trustees: Wendell Clodfelter, Sharon Chard, Raymond Van Gilder, Carsten von Borstel, Gordon Hilderbrand, Sherry Kaseberg, Patty Moore and Barbara Sharp. |
| 1985 | Activities: | Trustees attended OMA meetings. A selection of three in-county bus tours developed over three years included (1) a north to south bus trip over roads close to The Dalles Military Road; (2) an Oregon Trail trip east to west across the county; and (3) a NE to SW drive following the Barlow Cut-Off as closely as possible from Webfoot/Klondike to Sherar’s Bridge. 57 members. Dues: $5. Purchased first MultiPlex unit. Kitchen remodeled by David Fritts. Elders in the county were videotaped and audio recorded at Wasco Grade School and Sherman High School. Chet Coats began to organize the photograph collection. Reported spending $4,655. 622 visitors, 388 in-county and 274 out. Income from contributions. 56 volunteers. Open three afternoons a week. |
| 1986 | Trustees, Visitors and Members. | Sherry Kaseberg, Barbara Sharp, Patty Moore, Wendell Clodfelter, Pat Macnab, Ray Van Gilder, Carsten von Borstel and Glenn Virtue. 1,591 visitors of which 1,003 came from out of the county. 245 members. |
| 1986 | Policy and Mission. | Policies and a Mission Statement were adopted. |
| 1986 | Activities: | Hosted an OMA quarterly meeting and Patty Moore led a walking tour of Moro. Started The Museum Store in the original wing. Special exhibits of toys and Native American artifacts. Affiliate of Oregon Historical Society. Planning began for a Sherman County Centennial Committee and a commemorative quilt. Blue ribbon display at the fair. Moore and Kaseberg attended a two-day fundraising workshop, and started a genealogy file based on their own collections and that of Ivalou & Esther Peugh. Maryhill staff instructed volunteers on exhibit installation and display. Transfer by deed of some lots near the Museum to the Society by the City of Moro for future expansion. Fourth fall bus tour covered roads from Monkland to Wilcox. For the Record was published in time for County Fair traffic. Produced a museum brochure. 1,591 visitors May through October; 112 volunteers, 245 member addresses. |
1987 | Friends of the Museum formed. | Formed to raise funds for the Museum, the Friends produced a lively two-day Country Heritage Festival. |
1987 | Activities: | Fifth in-county narrated bus tour. First state museum grant. Fifty Centennial quilt blocks (designed by Sherry Kaseberg) were under construction by 47 seamstresses. Society determined the quilt content. Penny Eakin, Millie Moore, Marie Cyphers and Rose Moore assembled patterns, thread, fabric, tracing paper and suggestions in packets for the seamstresses. Formal naming: Sherman County Historical Museum. Work on highway signs. Policy developed. First catered meal for the annual meeting. Parlor exhibit wall-papered & carpeted. Decision to operate a Museum Store, to sell consigned work of high quality, related to the collections and juried. 19 artisans consigned work. Rufus students visited Courthouse and Museum for demonstrations and hands-on experiences. Fifth fall bus tour to north central County, town-site of Grant, Rufus, Rufus Cemetery, China Hollow and School, Gerking Canyon. Blue ribbon display at the fair. Moore and Kaseberg invited to join Oregon Trail Advisory Group on tour in the region. Fall meeting and program at Wasco. Planning for expansion funding. Policy development, adoption. First state museum grant. |
| 1987 | Board of Trustees, Visitors, Volunteers: | Sherry Kaseberg, Dorothy Benson, Patty Moore, Wendell Clodfelter, Pat Macnab, Ray Van Gilder, Carsten von Borstel, Glenn Virtue. 2,900 visitors. 72 volunteers – hours and names published in The Plow. Revenue: $15,744. Expenses: $14,036. Museum Store profit: $654. |
| 1988 | County Centennial Committee, hardly distinguishable from the Museum/Society, started work. | Committee and story in The Plow, Spring. Plans for 1989: centennial calendar, a musical drama, a narrated slide show, centennial birthday party at the courthouse February 25, time capsule, tree planting, packets for each teacher, silver and bronze commemorative coins with the centennial logo, a logo contest won by Cameron Kaseberg, farm awards, hand-made windsocks, pictorial postal cancellation designed by Jeanney McArthur, postcards, envelopes with a drawing of the courthouse, and a painted image of the centennial logo. A two-day event at SHS – Centennial Homecoming – for family reunions and school reunions with an evening Chautauqua at DeMoss Park in the evening. Chet Coats, Dorothy Benson and Patty Moore visited Wallowa County to learn about development of a narrated slide show. Fundraising. County birthday/centennial event at the Courthouse and Museum, all day February 25. Dorothy Benson began arrangements for the Homecoming. |
1988 | Activities | Sack lunch tour by bus to the site of Early on the John Day River; fall program on Chinese of The Dalles; table at the Christmas bazaar; sleeves installed on all fluorescent lighting; first index of For The Record produced by Patty Moore; 1st prize community display at the county fair. Country Heritage event sponsored by Friends of the Museum in May. Moore and Kaseberg attended OMA meeting in Jacksonville. Signs erected at city limits. Annual membership meeting. Volunteers and hours published in The Plow. Revenue: $21,087. Expenses: $14,460. Fundraising. |
| 1988 | Committee to review bylaws and make recommendations: | Ron McDermid, Mike McArthur and Jerry Kirkpatrick. |
| 1988 | Trustees & Visitors | Trustees; Patty Moore, Dorothy Benson, Pat Macnab, Ray Van Gilder, Glenn Virtue, Sherry Kaseberg. Jerry Kirkpatrick & Mike McArthur elected to the Board. Visitors: 2,534, 834 from in the county, 1,691 from other places. 301 members. |
| 1989 | Museum expansion planned. | Lawrence Kenny donated a steel building kit that was sold to start a fund for expansion. Trees were removed and site prepared. Funding categories were established. Drawing of planned expansion in The Plow. |
| 1989 | Board of Trustees/Officers: | Sherry Kaseberg, Dorothy Benson, Patty Moore, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Pat Macnab, Mike McArthur, Raymond Van Gilder & Glenn Virtue. |
| 1989 | American Association for State and Local History | AASLH invited Sherry Kaseberg to speak about the volunteer program on a panel at the annual conference in Seattle. |
1989 | Sherman County Centennial and Museum | Society trip to Astoria to ride on a Rose Festival ship to Portland in recognition of the Society’s public service; projector and screen purchased for the centennial slide show (later sold to Chet Coats); video tapes of the slide show planned; Museum open on the County’s February 25 birthday with over 90 visitors; a one-time-only bus tour of the lower Deschutes River; Oregon Trail tour; museum volunteers participated greatly in the County Centennial Committee’s work. Centennial Homecoming and Family Reunion held June 17-18 at SHS and an evening home-grown Chautauqua in DeMoss Park. Centennial quilt raffled, won by Lee Kaseberg. Official centennial photographers: Dave Johnson, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Rod Patten and Carsten von Borstel. Patty Moore was the speaker for the dedication of the time capsule on the Courthouse lawn. Limited edition water color prints by Joe Chen – a fundraiser. Special farm awards and Oregon Century Farm awards. Mobley and Pshigoda wrote a Centennial song: Friends and Neighbors. Story about the centennial quilt in Ruralite. |
| 1989 | Activities: | Centennial slide show: Land Between the Rivers produced by Chet Coats and Patty Moore. Fall bus tour across the county on the Oregon Trail. Bulk mail permit established. Plaque recognizing donors of the original wing. OHS Director and Field Representative visited the Museum. Third annual Country Heritage Festival. SCHS Revenue: $29,770. Expenses: $18,815. |
| 1989 | Trustees, Visitors and Volunteers | Kaseberg, Benson, Moore, Kirkpatrick, Macnab, McArthur, Van Gilder and Virtue. Visitor count: 970 in the county, 1,892 from other places. 70 volunteers |
| Date | Event | People |
| ? | Lot on Highway 97 in Moro donated to the Museum. | Art Muller donated the 100‰Ûª x 50‰Ûª lot on Highway 97 to the Society. It was decided that the most benefit would be in using it to market the Museum and the County. |
| 1990 | Museum expansion proceeded. | Fundraising. Steel building framework 40‰Ûª x 88‰Ûª ordered, plans drawn under the direction of chairman Jerry Kirkpatrick and President Mike McArthur. $50,000 anonymous gift. Fall 1990 budget for new construction: $54,503 with an additional $42,300 projected. |
| 1990 | Activites | Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial planning started statewide. Story about the centennial quilt in Ruralite. History theater afternoons with Chet Coats; MAP II grant application made by McArthur, Moore, Sherry Kaseberg and Chris Kaseberg. MAP II was conducted by Lynn Harrison of Cheney-Cowles Museum in Spokane. A Barnstormer production was a Museum fundraiser. Volunteer party for 70+ volunteers. Moore, Benson and Kaseberg attended a joint OR/WA Museums Association conference. October bus tour over Barlow Cut-off Klondike to Buck Hollow. Christmas home tour. Trustees explored Oregon Trail sites on the John Day River with Kirkpatricks. Subject of loaned objects addressed. |
| 1990 | Officers/Board of Trustees, Visitors, Volunteers and Revenue: | Mike McArthur, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Sherry Kaseberg, Deanna Padget, Patty Moore, Terri Bibby, Pat Macnab, Millie Moore-Voll & Glenn Virtue. Dorothy Benson elected, replacing Padget. Bylaw changes increased the board to 9 positions. Established the position of Museum Coordinator & elected Sherry Kaseberg to serve in that capacity and lead The Museum Team. Centennial assets turned over to SCHS. Revenue: $85,522. Expenses: $59,070. Visitors: 1,645. 1990: 2,260 hours logged by 95 volunteers. |
| 1990 and 1991 | Fundraising for construction of the lobby and new wing. | $127,000 est. from members and friends of the Museum. |
| 1991 | Expansion & construction. | Site preparation with help from County Road Department. Exchange of property. $1,000 support to City of Moro for construction of new restrooms, replacing those demolished for expansion. Volunteers proceeded with construction under supervision of Jerry Kirkpatrick and his friend, contractor Russell Hiatt. Fundraising for the new wing, new footbridge and Visitor Information Kiosk. Stop work order in February on a complaint by a local resident. |
| 1991 | Activities: | Institute of Museum Services ca. $2,000 for Museum Assessment Program II to survey the collections. Patty Moore led members of Oregon-California Trails Association on the Barlow Cut-Off through the County and collected stories of WWII veterans. Construction of padded hangers. Memorial gifts for preservation of the Centennial quilt. Shirley Miller maintained the genealogy files. Annual meeting with 43 present and fall meeting with 28. Museum Store operated by Patty Moore and Phyllis McDermid: collector mug designs. Jet boat tours on the Deschutes River starting at Celilo Park. 95 volunteers for 2,620 hours. Revenue: $47,595. Expenses: $72,730. |
| November 1992 | Society president Mike McArthur was elected County Judge. | - |
| 1992 | Board of Trustees/Officers/Members: | Mike McArthur, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Dorothy Benson, Barbara Bish, Eileen Moreau, Sherry Kaseberg, Vonda Chandler, Pat Macnab & Millie Moore-Voll. Patty Moore and Glenn Virtue retired from the board. Mailing list for 496 members, 317 in Sherman County, 179 out. 95 volunteers. Revenue: $41,814. |
1992 | Activities | Opened the new museum entrance-lobby-Museum Store on May 1st. Distinguished Service awards to Patty Moore and Chet Coats. Pat Macnab led a bus tour to Baker County, Walla Walla Museum and Columbia Crest Winery. Community display and parade during the fair, our first Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Seeds of Change, Sherry Kaseberg invited to speak at the quarterly OMA meeting, model of the new wing built by SHS students, County Kids exhibit installed, volunteers attended workshops in Yakima and Portland, padded hangers constructed, fundraising for landscaping, 67 people attended the fall meeting. |
| 1992 | Expansion, Construction, Funding: | Regional Strategies/Economic Development grant of $67,000; in-kind from MCP & Don Coats; lot on the highway donated by Art Muller; $3,000 from Weir Trust for overhead door of new wing; $5,000 general operating money from Institute of Museum Services. The new lobby opened with The Museum Store. Anonymous donation for stucco finish on new construction. |
| 1992 | One-acre tract at the John Day River. | BLM field representative notified the Society that SCHS owned a one-acre tract near the John Day River at the Oregon Trail Crossing site of the Society’s monument and offered a collaborative approach to an interpretive kiosk. Signed an agreement. |
| 1992 | 1993 Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial Planning | Sherman County appointed the Trustees to act as the County’s Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial Committee. Funding from Oregon Trail Coordinating Council $5,000; Oregon Tourism Commission $5,000; Sherman County $5,000; Oregon Council for the Humanities $8,000 for the new interpretive exhibit. Oregon Trail signs, bus tours, BLM/Society kiosk on Society property at McDonald at the Oregon Trail Crossing. Oregon-California Trails Association and BLM and Society volunteers moved the inscribed basalt column to the Museum. |
1992 | Oregon Trails, Rails & Roads in Sherman County | Our first interpretive exhibit—under construction. Oregon Council for the Humanities $8,000 for the scholar, Ross Cotroneo, for our first interpretive exhibit. The Exhibit Team: designer Cameron Kaseberg, graphic designers Jeanney McArthur and Pat Jacobsen, Myrna Melzer, Sherry Kaseberg, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Joe & Sheila Weber, Millie Moore Voll, Doris Alley, Penny Eakin, Mavis Olsen, Eileen Moreau, Chet Coats, Janet Van Gilder, mural painters and many others. |
| 1993 | Exhibit changes included enlarging the kitchen exhibit in the original wing, medical and dental exhibits.
Construction of the new wing proceeded with funding from individual donors, Oregon Economic Development Department-Regional Strategies, and James Weir Trust. Construction supervised by Jerry Kirkpatrick and Mike McArthur. The new interpretive exhibit to open in June, Oregon Trails, Rails and Roads in Sherman County, was funded in part by Oregon Council for the Humanities and Oregon Economic Development Department. Designer: Cameron Kaseberg. Scholar: Ross Cotroneo of Western Oregon University. | An exhibition supplement brochure designed by Jeanney McArthur won an honorable mention in design competition sponsored by the American Association of Museums and was among the winners published in Museum News. |
17 June 1993 | The grand opening of the new wing and Oregon Trail exhibit. Music, food, balloons, speeches, ribbon cutting. | Trustees: Eileen Moreau, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Dorothy Benson, Barbara Bish, Sherry Kaseberg, Vonda Chandler, Mike McArthur, Millie Moore Voll and Pat Macnab. Myrna Melzer cut the ribbon for the new exhibit, Oregon Trails, Rails and Roads. Joe Weber was elected to McArthur’s position. |
1993 | Money & Grant Funding. | Meyer Memorial Trust funded $7,800 for archival storage containers, shelving, office equipment and supplies. Revenue: $123, 829. Expenses: $117,579.X |
June 1993 | The inscribed basalt column studied by museum professionals was moved to a site east of Wasco and put in place. Affectionately called The Rock & The Flintstone Project, the stone is on county road right-of-way and belongs to the County. | Volunteers from the Society, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon-California Trails Association and Boy Scout Troop #570 of Kirkland, WA. |
1993 | The Society produced A Guide to Oregon Trails in Sherman County for distribution in the county. | Produced by the Oregon Trail Committee and designed by Jeanney McArthur, it was funded with grants from Oregon Tourism Division, Oregon Trail Coordinating Council and Sherman County. |
| 1993 | Oregon Trail Sesquicentennial | Special events included the opening of the Museum’s Oregon Trails, Rails and Roads exhibit, displays and a sale table at Wasco’s Memorial Day event, food and entertainment for the public when the Official Oregon Trail Wagon Train encamped at Wasco and at Deschutes State Park and a special display at the county fair. Cycle Oregon riders camped at SHS bringing over 2,000 people to the County.
Oregon Trail county road signs produced by E & P Jacobsen were funded by Oregon Trail Coordinating Council and Sherman County. |
| 1993 | Oregon Department of Transportation produced directional signs for Oregon Trail sites that were erected by Sherman County volunteers. | - |
| 1993 | Other activities: | Doris Alley & Sheila Weber managed The Museum Store. Construction of the footbridge started. Construction of the BLM kiosk on Society property at the John Day River. Signs placed on restrooms and museum. MCP & Pat Jacobsen produced the sign illustrating wheat field to export. Blue ribbon community display at county fair. Fall program in Rufus. Moreau, Sheila Weber, Kaseberg and Macnab attended the OMA meeting in Warm Springs. Landscaping on the creek side completed. Small display units in the original wing constructed. Holt tractor loaned by Ted Halton of The Halton Company. Museum Team internal evaluation. Centennial quilt framed. Purple t-shirts designed by J. McArthur for Cycle Oregon traffic. Questionnaire for veterans’ history project. |
| 1993 | The Society took a marketing display to Oregon TrailFest in Portland. | Doris Alley, Joe & Sheila Weber, Chet Coats, Larry Kaseberg and Jeanney & Mike McArthur made it possible. Sherry Kaseberg took it to the Rufus Grange and Lions Club. |
| 1993 or 1994 | Funding. | $120,000 bequest from the estate of Florence Johnston. $505 grant from Oregon Economic Development Department. |
| 1993 | Trustees, Members, Volunteers and Visitors: | Eileen Moreau, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Dorothy Benson, Barbara Bish, Sherry Kaseberg, Vonda Chandler, Pat Macnab, Mike McArthur, Millie Moore-Voll. 490/450 members on the mailing list. Volunteers logged 6,092 hours, 87 of these by 10 students. 3,976 visitors to the museum: 1,371 in-county, 2,605 from outside the county. |
| 1994 | AASLH Corey Award for a small, all-volunteer historical museum for the imagination, scholarship and vigor shown in its work. | Representing SCHS in Omaha, NE for the AASLH annual conference to receive the award were Pat Macnab, Eileen Moreau, Joe & Sheila Weber and Larry and Sherry Kaseberg. The Society’s nomination was prepared by Sherry Kaseberg and others and the nomination was presented to AASLH by OHS Field Representative Ron Brentano. |
| 22 April 1994 | The Society initiated the Columbia Plateau Museums Association for mutual learning and networking. | Ron Brentano, OHS Field Representative, presented marketing, problem solving and educational information to 25 volunteers/staff from Umatilla, Klickitat, Wasco and Sherman Counties. He invited the Society to prepare a nomination for AASLH’s Award of Commendation. He carried it forward to the national competition and it was elevated to the Corey Award. |
| 1994 | Covered bridge over Barnum Creek completed. | Crew: Russell Hiatt, carpenter from Cove, OR, Ed Jones, Don Coats, Pat Macnab, Joe Weber, Barbara Cantrall, Carolyn DeMoss, Leroy Sherman, Glenn Virtue and Jerry Kirkpatrick worked on it with material from MCP and assistance from Sherman County Road Department. Funding: OEDD/Regional Strategies. |
| 1994 | Activities | Walker Wall System purchased for the lobby wall Artists’ Series. Ron Brentano received the Society’s third Distinguished Service Award. Quilt display. Friends of the Museum disbanded. Fencing for the porch, OMA meetings, and Dorothy Benson’s Volunteer Talk newsletter. Second index of For The Record produced by Patty Moore. Site preparation on the highway site under direction of Joe Weber and Millie Moore-Voll. High school students served as consultants for the military-patriotic exhibits. Fall program with speaker and slides. Exhibit team wrote new labels, reinstalled exhibit cases and wallpapered in the original wing over the winter. Remodeled the restrooms for handicap access, constructed additional exhibit cases in the military exhibit, and participated in our first “fam” (familiarization) tour for group tour bus operators on the Oregon Trail. Special hands-on event for 45 4-H members touring the region. Four Egyptian wheat scientists and OSU staff visited the Museum. Preparation for 1995 anniversary of the end of WWII. Remodel of restrooms to meet code. Moreau, Chandler, Kaseberg & Melzer to OMA workshop. Two tours brought 60 people involved in marketing the region. Chairs donated by Eureka Lodge. Sherman County jail removed from courthouse & Jacque vB researched its origins without success. Fall program with Century Farm awards. |
1994 | Board, Officers, Volunteers | 6% of the county population volunteered at the Museum, over 6,092 hours recorded, included 67 by 20 students. Board and officers: Eileen Moreau, Dorothy Benson, Barbara Bish, Vonda Chandler, Pat Macnab, Joe Weber, Sherry Kaseberg. Editors: Sherry Kaseberg, Eileen Moreau and Janet Van Gilder. Publications designer: Jeanney McArthur. Sherry Kaseberg was awarded the fourth Distinguished Service Award. Macnab, Kaseberg and Weber received Oregon Trail Coordinating Council service awards. |
1994 | Bequest. Money. | A bequest from the estate of Florence Johnston, wife of Theodore, $120,000. Revenue: $45,630. Expenses: $45,431. Endowment: $95,000 of the Johnston bequest. |
1995 | Activities: | Celebrations of the Society’s 50th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII; $1,800 from Oregon Council for the Humanities in support of the WWII Smithsonian exhibition Home Front; constructed a Visitor Information Kiosk on the Muller lot with funding from OEDD/Regional Strategies; built storage for woolens; modified space in The Museum Store and the Native American exhibit; enlarged brochure racks; installed the Walker Wall System for traveling/rotating exhibitions; appointed a Security Team Leader; installed signs on the Museum and the City of Moro restrooms; developed a visitor questionnaire; added “award-winning” to most publications, brochures and news releases; book signing party for three county authors; $3,000 Kinsman Foundation grant for restoration of the Englehart painting. Sherman County Artist Series. |
1995 | History News, a publication of AASLH. | Sherman County Historical Museum and the Corey Award were featured in Ron Brentano’s story in History News. |
1995 | Trustees/Members: | Eileen Moreau, Joe Weber, Dorothy Benson, Sherry Kaseberg, Vonda Chandler, Jacque von Borstel, Myrna Melzer, Don Thompson, Pat Macnab. Mailed 423 newsletters and 332 copies of For The Record to 521 members and exchanges and media contacts. Trustees conducted self-evaluation. |
1995 | Policy. | Developed and adopted greatly expanded policy and job descriptions. Carrie Kaseberg and Mary Macnab put Society policy together on computer disks. |
1995 | First year to charge an admission fee, $2 for adults and $1 for students. | Museum was featured in RURALITE. |
1995 | Her first novel brought visitors to the Museum. | Jane Kirkpatrick’s first novel, A Sweetness to the Soul, based on the Jane Herbert Sherar and family. Elbert DeMoss published Sweet Oregon, the DeMoss Family Lyric Bards. |
1995 | 50th anniversary of the end of WW II. In commemoration the Society sponsored several speakers and a Smithsonian traveling exhibit, encouraged local veterans to tell their WW II stories for publication, held a reception for WW II Home Front workers and veterans. |
Patty Moore compiled 1940s newspaper clippings and stories about WWII veterans and home front efforts. Reception for veterans, contest for students. Gordon Hilderbrand produced work on ships lost during WW II. Vonda Chandler, Eileen Moreau, Mildred Berge and Terri Bibby of the Education Committee organized poster coloring and poster design contests with WW II themes. Siteline, a publication of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, described commitments of small museums with small format Smithsonian exhibitions, including a photograph of Sherry Kaseberg with the poster of Rosie the Riveter. |
| 1995 | Volunteers & Visitors: | Volunteers (141) logged 6,380 hours October 31, 1995 to October 31, 1995. 2,285 visitors. New visitor questionnaire. |
| 1996 | Journey Through Time Scenic Byway – 286 miles from Maryhill Museum of Art to Shaniko and easterly to Baker City. Celebrations in towns along the route. | A new cultural heritage route, a state scenic byway. Bus tour. A weekend event featured fresh baked bread with freshly-churned butter, Columbia Fiber Guild demonstrating carding-spinning-weaving, a collection of farm tools, small farm animals, wagon rides and Belgian horses, miniature horse and wagon rides, Oregon Trail Bluegrass Band and Heritage, A Gospel Quartet, food vendors, demonstrations of needlework skills and sack sewing. An Oregonian story about this new Scenic Byway brought visitors. |
1996 | Grant funding and Money | Meyer Memorial Trust $7,500: printer, scanner, data base software, a flat file, two file cabinets, 30 technical resource books, voice-operated cassette recorder and transcriber, books on fundraising and marketing, calculator, binders and desk furnishings. Kinsman Foundation funded restoration of the Englehart painting with $3,000 that was added to gifts from individual donors. Institute of Museum Services funded Museum Assessment Program I for $1,975 to assess all museum operations. Computer funded by Weir Trust for $2,000. Oregon Council for the Humanities $1,300 for exhibit scholars. Assets: $413,659. Revenue: $55,334. Expenditures: $48,299. |
| 1996 | Second interpretive exhibit under construction. | Work began on Wheat Through The Ages exhibit with two scholars funded by Oregon Council for the Humanities, Warren Kronstad, Ph.D. of OSU and Kim Stafford, Ph.D., of Lewis and Clark College. |
| 1996 | Activities: | Installed landscaping on the Visitor Information Kiosk lot, designed by Marian Carter of Mt. Hood Gardens. Museum Assessment Program I. Second prize in the Memorial Day parade with the Justesen truck. First water bill. More padded hangers. Blue ribbon community display at the fair. KODL Coffee Break. August book signing with Jane Kirkpatrick. |
1996 | Gifts and giving. | Policy established to track all gifts to the museum, individually, cumulative, and recognize gifts with brass plaques. |
| 15 April 1996 | Columbia Plateau Museums. | The meeting in Moro featured fundraising, marketing & OHS field services. |
| 1996 | Library of Congress ISSN. | An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) identifies Sherman County: For The Record for the first time. |
1996 | Trustees, Volunteers & Visitors: | Joe Weber, Jacque von Borstel, Dorothy Benson, Vonda Chandler, Sherry Kaseberg, Pat Macnab, Myrna Melzer, Don Thompson. Dorothy Benson received the Society’s distinguished service award. Volunteers logged 11, 846 hours. Attendance: 3,402 visitors, up from 2,585 in 1995. Museum Store Team: Carol Conlee, Carrie Kaseberg, Cathie Martin & Patti Moore. |
| 1996 | Annual and fall meetings: | Amended by-laws and Articles of Incorporation; service award for Dorothy Benson and Chet Coats; program on Kam Wah Chung Museum in John Day. |
| 1996 | Visitor Information Kiosk. | The sign was produced by Pat and Erling Jacobsen and installed at the front edge of the lot. Oregon Community Foundation funded $2,000 for three interpretive and directional signs for the inside of the kiosk. Marian Carter of Mt. Hood Gardens designed the landscaping and volunteers planted. |
| 1997 | Policy change: no loaned artifacts. | With a policy change that the Museum would no longer accept artifacts for long-term loan, lenders were invited to pick up their artifacts or gift them to the Museum. |
| 8 June 1997 | Wheat through the Ages, our second interpretive exhibit opened. | Funded by individual contributions, Burlington-Northern Santa Fe, Morrow County Grain Growers, Barbara Kaseberg Riper, Sprint and Oregon Council for the Humanities for the two scholars. Designed by Cameron Kaseberg. Exhibit team: Myrna Melzer, Joe Weber, Sherry Kaseberg, Charlotte Barnett, Chet Coats and others. Craftsman: David Fritts. Ribbon cutting in June. |
| 1997 | Activities | MAP I was completed by David Freece of the Cowlitz County Museum who worked with 23 volunteers in his on-site assessment of articles of incorporation, bylaws, policy, publications, and the board’s self-study assessment. Bus trip to High Desert Museum, Fort Rock Museum & Crater Lake. Journey Through Time Scenic Byway activities. Mary Lou Dennis painted the Visitor Information Kiosk for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Insulation installed in the ceiling of the original wing. Sherman County Historical Museum brick at the Discovery Center. Community display and floral exhibits at the county fair. Joe Weber and Mike McArthur won the Mayor’s Choice Award at the Memorial Day parade pushing the Museum’s fire hose reel cart. Joe and Sherry had wheat growing on the grounds. David Fritts assembled additional steel shelving in storage rooms. Nancy Lanni designed the first artifact database. Sherry Kaseberg organized artifacts in storage according to Nomenclature. ODOT installed Visitor Information signs on Highway 97 in Moro for the Museum Visitor Center. |
| 1997 | Funding: | Fundraising for HVAC system resulted in $30,000 from members. Bequest from the estate of Olga Freeman Samuelson: $———. Bequest from the estate of D.L. Belshe: $16,000. |
1997 | Board/Officers/Volunteers/Visitors: | Joe Weber, Myrna Melzer, Dorothy Benson, Sherry Kaseberg, Nancy Lanni, Don Thompson. Joe Weber received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Visitor count: 3,505. Board expansion to 9 trustees. |
| 1998 | Journey Through Time Scenic Byway | Journey Through Time Celebration held in two communities along the route: Moro and Mt.Vernon. Events in Moro: food, gold panning, skillet toss, penny hunt, roping contest, ring toss, craft activities, wagon rides, Mill Creek String Band, Columbia Fiber Guild demonstrations, needlework/sack sewing/ tool demonstrations, butter churning with fresh bread, gospel music, cribbage tournament, ice cream and potluck supper, craft booths, dunk tank and games. |
| May 10-11, 1998 | Treasures of Oregon & Oregon Historical Society | A major exhibition traveling throughout Oregon for ten months was on display at the Museum. Volunteers and OHS staff coordinated student visits. |
| 1998 | Activities | Funding for the climate control system in the Oregon Trail wing was provided by 118 donors. Museum consultant Lucy Skjelstad engaged 86 county citizens in the Museum planning process to identify its strengths, things we could do better, visions and goals. Museum Store. Workshops, Journey Through Time event planning and fundraising for the climate control system. Nancy Lanni produced an index of the genealogy files for the Sherman County GenWeb site and began computerizing the collection records. Patty Moore completed the third index of For The Record. Tour to Timberline Lodge and High Desert Museum. Jane Kirkpatrick signed new book, A Burden Shared. Annual meeting with speaker, gift of Wilcox stained glass for lobby windows. New museum rack card for distribution. |
1998 | Construction of the ag exhibit building. | Funding started with D.L. Belshe’s 1997 bequest of $16,000 and the Columbia Plateau Conservation Resource Center (Regional Strategies) $9,977. Individual contributions: $50,000. Groundbreaking in July. Barbara Kaseberg Riper offered a challenge gift. Individual donations were steady. |
| 1998 | Board/Officers/Volunteers/Visitors & Money: | Joe Weber, Myrna Melzer, Dorothy Benson, Nancy Fields, Nancy Lanni, Sherry Kaseberg & Don Thompson. Heating and air-condition systems installed in December. Assets: $460,078. Revenue: $91,917. Expenses: $85,241. |
1999 | Board/Officers/Volunteers/Visitors: | Bobbi Driscoll, Erling Jacobsen, Dorothy Benson, Nancy Fields, Sherry Kaseberg, Jim Manning, Myrna Melzer. Began planning the Cultivation, Conservation & Clothespins! [CCC] exhibit. 2,823 visitors: 111 from other countries, 1167 from Oregon outside our County, 670 in-county for 355 fewer than in 1998. |
| 13 June 1999 | The annual meeting and ribbon cutting for the new agricultural exhibit building was held in the empty structure. Speaker: Warren Kronstad, Ph.D., OSU.
Ag Building Funding: Construction: | Trustees: Joe Weber, Myrna Melzer, Dorothy Benson, Nancy Fields, Sherry Kaseberg, Nancy Lanni, Don Thompson. Editors: Kaseberg and Janet Pinkerton Van Gilder. Publications designer: Jeanney McArthur. Bobbi Driscoll was elected to the Board, elected President. Erling Jacobsen and Jim Manning were also elected to the Board. Dorothy Stark received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Nancy Lanni and Joe Weber resigned from the Board.
$32,000 grant from Meyer Memorial Trust for chain hoist doors and concrete floor; $13,977 from Oregon Economic Development Department; $7,000 Collins Foundation; $1,000 Burlington Northern-Santa Fe and over 170 individual donors. Howell Construction. |
| 1999 | Construction of the ag exhibit building, continued: | Additional funding by Meyer Memorial Trust $32,000; Collins Foundation $7,000; Oregon Economic Development Department $13,977; Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Foundation $1,000. |
| 1999 | Grant Funding & Money: | Grant of $20,000 IMLS for general operating: audit, consultants for marketing, disaster/emergency and preservation plans. Revenue: $86,253. Expenditures: $110,379. Ending balance: $14,451. Assets: $430,946. |
| 1999 | Activities: | We began to use cable TV notices, radio interviews for marketing. Additional muslin covered hangers for the collections. Myrna & Wayne Melzer represented the Museum in the Memorial Day parade and won Mayor’s Choice award. Museum web site funded by Jim & Andrea Siscel. Patty Moore produced the third index for For The Record. Mannings represented the Museum for an educator’s event at Maryhill Museum. Blue ribbon community display organized by Mary Ann King at the county fair. Joe Weber & Sherry Kaseberg took in the OMA meeting in The Dalles, and Driscoll attended one in Coos Bay. Museum admission was raised to $3 for adults. |
| Date | Event | People |
2000 | Funding | Oregon Tourism Commission $5,000 for marketing. $7,500 from Oregon Community Foundation for an ag exhibit. Beginning balance: $14,451. Revenue: $72,244. Expenditures: $38,639. Assets: $536,704. |
2000 | Activities: | Museum Team focused on system-wide exhibit label corrections and improvements. Exhibit Team worked on concepts and ideas for the CCC exhibit in the new building: Myrna Melzer, Pat Macnab, Chet Coats, Ron Thompson, Nancy Fields, Sherry Kaseberg, Bobbi Driscoll, Pat von Borstel, and Mary Ann King, carpenter David Fritts & designer Cameron Kaseberg. Mary Ann King produced a photo exhibit for the Shaniko Railway Centennial. Sherry Kaseberg participated in panel discussions at the Columbia Plateau Museums meeting at Maryhill Museum. More padded hangers. 35 volunteers attended the end of season appreciation event. David Fritts built a roof over the old county jail exhibit. Museum Store opened for Christmas shopping. Joe & Sheila Weber and Dorothy Benson attended Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Oregon conference in The Dalles. Obtained engineering & permit to erect Pat Macnab’s windmill. Upgraded computer system. Cameron Kaseberg designed SCHS web site and it received an award. Appraisal Fair. |
| 2000 | Trustees, Volunteers & Visitors | Annual meeting: Susan Brown & Joan DeGrange joined Trustees Jacobsen, Melzer, Fields, Kaseberg, Benson, Manning & Driscoll. Museum attendance was significantly down from the previous four years, 2,334 visitors. |
| 2001 | Trustees, Volunteers & Visitors: | Myrna Melzer received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Trustees: Erling Jacobsen, Myrna Melzer, Susan Brown, Nancy Fields, Sherry Kaseberg, Dorothy Benson, Bobbi Driscoll, Joan DeGrange, Mary Anne Macnab. Steve Burnet spoke at the annual meeting. Visitors: 2,542: 652 Sherman County residents, 1,102 from other Oregon counties, 869 from other states and 101 from other countries. |
2001 | Marketing & Marketing Plan | Grant funding by IMLS for a Marketing Plan. Contracted with Penny Hummel of Hummelwerks. Not implemented by 2003. Internet web site designed by Cameron Kaseberg: www.shermanmuseum.org. Pat & Erling Jacobsen produced the sign for the front of the ag exhibit building. ODOT’s work on Highway 97 in Moro required removal of the Visitor Information Kiosk and landscaping. |
2001 | Emergency & Disaster Plan and Preservation Plan | Grant funded by IMLS for these two plans. Contracted with Irene Zenev. Neither implemented by 2003. |
| 2001 | Funding: | Meyer Memorial Trust $50,000 challenge grant to raise an additional $35,000. Collins Foundation $20,000. Bequest from estate of Helen Bruckert $10,000. Met the Meyer Memorial Trust Challenge. Revenue: $129,569. Expenditures: $76,849. |
2001 | Activities: | Susan Brown attended a two-day Leave A Legacy program. Editor Patty Moore retired, Jim Manning resigned from the board and Carol Conlee retired from the Museum Store Team. Museum Host training included fire extinguisher practice. Jeanney McArthur retired as Society publications designer. Sherry Kaseberg learned to design The Plow. Exhibit Team continued work on the ag exhibit. Elder Hostel folks studying in the region came to the Museum. Purchased PastPerfect software & Susan Brown & Nancy Fields received training. |
| 2002 | Trustees, Volunteers & Visitors: | Erling Jacobsen, Myrna Melzer, Susan Brown, Nancy Fields, Sherry Kaseberg, Dorothy Benson, Bobbi Driscoll, Joan DeGrange, Mary Anne Macnab. Bobbi Driscoll retired from the Board. Cal McDermid was elected to the Board. Visitors: 2,468: 675 County residents, 997 from other OR counties, 723 other states and 73 from other countries. |
| 2002 | Activities: | 20th Anniversary of the Museum. Annual meeting at Café Moro with speaker Steven Burnet. Mother’s Day Tea hosted by The Museum Store Team. Hands-on grinding stone donated by Bob’s Red Mill. Hosted the Columbia Plateau Museums Association April meeting. Sherry Kaseberg participated on a panel discussion about exhibit production at the Columbia Plateau Museums meeting. Oregon Christmas Tree Project led by Benson & Kaseberg. Kaseberg retired as Museum Coordinator. Extended security systems to the ag building. New design by Marian Carter for the Kiosk lot, and Larry Kaseberg designed the irrigation system. Kiosk painted by Mary Lou Dennis and OYCC youth workers. Landscaping installed by volunteers. Windmill operational. OMA workshops attended by the Webers and Cal McDermid. Display of photos for Wasco Memorial Day. Loaned quilt to Museum of the Oregon Territory. McDermid attended a three-day grant writing workshop. Susan Brown and Pat Jacobsen collaborated to produce the Museum & Business sign at the foot of 2nd Street. |
| 2002 | 20th Year. Board of Trustees: | Erling Jacobsen, Cal McDermid, Nancy Fields, Dorothy Benson, Sherry Kaseberg, Myrna Melzer & Mary Anne Macnab. Opening of an exhibit, Cultivation, Conservation & Clothespins! As a marketing presence, landscaping designed by Mt. Hood Gardens, made a splash of flowering shrubs and bulbs around the kiosk on Hwy. 97. David Fritts received a Distinguished Service award for going the extra mile of artistry, carpentry and maintenance for 20 years. |
| January 2002 | First paid Museum director. | Society hired the first paid director, Cal McDermid, who resigned from the Board. |
| 2002 | Production of the third interpretive exhibit: Cultivation, Conservation and Clothespins! | Exhibit production. Designer: Cameron Kaseberg. Carpenter/artisan: David Fritts. Part-time team Leader: Sherry Kaseberg. Exhibit Team: chair Myrna Melzer, Sherry Kaseberg, Pat von Borstel, Mary Ann King, Erling Jacobsen, Shirley Fritts, Sheila Weber, Joe Weber, Mary Anne Macnab, Susan Brown, Mary Beth Smith, Sandy Macnab, Nancy Fields and others. The exhibit opened when the rest of the Museum opened May 1; work continued. |
| 2002 | City of Moro asked the Society to design the concrete wall in City Park. The Board defined the subjects and contracted with Pat Jacobsen to design a mural for the concrete retaining wall in City Park. | Oregon Department of Transportation contractors and crews installed the retaining wall. Dale Coles enlarged the Jacobsen design, cut it out on plywood donated by J&N Cable, and installed the plywood designs on the concrete forms with help from Mayor Larry Triebelhorn. |
| 2003 | Trustees, Volunteers, Visitors: | Erling Jacobsen, Myrna Melzer, Rita Wilson, Dorothy Benson, Sherry Kaseberg, Susan Brown, Mary Anne Macnab & Nancy Fields. Joan DeGrange resigned. Elaine Kalista was appointed. |
| 2003 | Activities: | Hosted Oregon Museums Association meeting and opened the Museum for Wednesdays After Hours. Elaine Kalista and Joan Jaeger were appointed Genealogy Coordinators. $3,000 grant for a Lewis & Clark suitcase exhibit. |
| 2003 | Funding: | - |
| 2004 | Trustees | Sherry Kaseberg, Elaine Kalista, Nancy Fields, Susan Brown, Myrna Melzer, Dorothy Benson. |
| 2003 | - | A climate control system in the Cultivation, Conservation & Clothespins exhibit building was funded by Barbara Riper in memory of her father, J. Kenneth Kaseberg. A new promotional film, Sherman County and Sherman County Museum, was presented and a first fundraising auction held at the fall program. |
| 2004 | Society trustees: | Elaine Kalista, Susan Brown, Myrna Melzer, Nancy Fields, Dorothy Benson, Dean Ruggles & Cal McDermid, engaged in professional development & planning and began fundraising to purchase the Sherman County Journal. |
| 2005 | Activities | Society trustees launched an endowment fund to be managed by The Oregon Community Foundation and continued fundraising. Barbara Kaseberg Riper pledged matching funds for donations to the Journal project by first-time donors. |
| 2006-2007 | Trustees and Volunteers | Elaine Kalista, Cal McDermid, Jeff Wolfanger, Nancy Fields, Linda Bird, Shavonne Gosson, Bev Malmberg & Myrna Melzer. The Sherman County Journal equipment was moved to containers for storage. The Society received grants for the Journal project from The Collins Foundation and the Ann & Bill Swindells Foundation and bequests from the estates of Dorothy Porter Smith, Benny Payne & Leland Schwendel. Sherry Kaseberg was appointed to her old post as Museum Coordinator. Kathy McCullough volunteered as editor for Sherman County: For The Record. A Travel Oregon grant funded development of a logo, tag line, branding and new signs. Link Shadley measured the building spaces: 15,902 square feet. |
| 2008 | Trustees | Del Peake, Myrna Melzer, Link Shadley & Carrie Kaseberg. An Oregon Heritage Commission grant funded steel shelving for artifact storage, archival boxes and photo sleeves, saddle racks, & materials & labor for quilt racks. The county’s three new brochures were in the rack and distributed with the museum rack card.X |
| 2009 | Board of Trustees: | Del Peake, Myrna Melzer, Carrie Kaseberg, Cal McDermid, Link Shadley, Sherry Wickert & Randy Hilderbrand. The behind-the-scenes Museum Team: Susan Brown, Christy Brown, Sherry Kaseberg, Pat von Borstel, Myrna Melzer, Bev Malmberg, Nancy Fields & Kathleen Ahearn. Steve & Janet Frazier, Chuck Huffstetter & Forbo, Inc. donated flooring and installation for the largest storage room. The Society supported restoration and preservation of the railroad water tower at Harris Canyon on the Deschutes River, and offered behind-the-scenes museum tours, a quilt and doll show, and county tours: A North End Journey, Harvest Field Trip and A South End Excursion. |
| Date | Event | People |
| 2010 | - | Programs included a Sherman County pictorial postmark and cachet envelope for the 140th Oregon Statehood Wagon Train Celebration, a tour to Sherar’s Falls, Family Night programs and the 40 Winks museum sleep-over. Forest Peters-Makelim stepped up to manage The Museum Store. Sherman Development League funded new signs for the jail exhibit, entrance to the Cultivation, Conservation and Clothespins exhibit and the covered footbridge. Grant-funded projects included Wasco Electric Cooperative Economic & Community Development for 25 stackable chairs and storage dolly, Sherman Development League for museum rack cards and three signs for the marketing upgrade, and Sherman County Cultural Coalition, Sherman County Commission on Children & Families and Sherman County Historical Society members for a summer youth public arts mural project. Jerry and Jane Kirkpatrick and Nancy Fields received Distinguished Service awards. The Oregon Geographic Names Board met in Sherman County for the first time. |
| 2011 | - | Trustees were Kathleen Ahearn, Randy Hilderbrand, Carrie Kaseberg, Myrna Melzer, Del Peake and Sherry Wickert. The proprietors of The Museum Store were Forest Peters-Makelim and Marlene Wallace. 2,330 visitors enjoyed museum exhibits and programs. During the 100th anniversary field day at the Columbia Basin Experiment Station 125 attendees visited the museum. 5% of Sherman County residents volunteered! For The Record editors Kathy McCullough and Julie Reynolds retired. Programs included a Twilight Tea with author Jane Kirkpatrick, student tours, Deschutes River scenic jet boat tours and 40 Winks museum sleep-over. Newly-formed John Day River Territory tourism collaborated with Eastern Oregon Visitors Association to strengthen tourism in the region. The Museum was featured in RURALITE and Farm Collector magazines. |
| 2012 | - | The Society hired a museum director and opened a new exhibit, Sherman County Journal: Paper, Ink & Presses. The Museum Team worked behind-the-scenes: Carol Conlee, Bert Long, Gladys Wesley, Terri Earl, Nancy Fields, Dale Frey, Jessie Fuhrer, Sherry Kaseberg, Myrna Melzer, Vicki Frey, Lowell Smith, Jim Gaffney & Terry Fuhrer. The Society supported the World War II Veterans Historic Highway signs south of Biggs and at Rufus commemorating military training with floating bridges at Camp Rufus in 1944. Activities included the 3rd annual Forty Winks sleep-over for fourth graders, Sherman County Fair display, hosting Sherman Elementary School’s Literacy Night, and volunteer appreciation party. |
| 2013 | - | The 30th anniversary of the museum was celebrated with the annual membership meeting, music and good food. Sherman County: For The Record editors, Mark Fields, Sherry Kaseberg and Chris Sanders retired. Lowell Smith received the Distinguished Service award. Projects included replacing the exterior stucco and painting the trim, new floor covering and paint in the Rural Living and military exhibits. Activities included 40 Winks, a day camp, a Deschutes River jet boat tour and a cookbook signing with the Macnab sisters. |
| 2014 | - | A grant from Sherman Development League funded computer work stations, filing cabinets, software and a computer for the Museum. The new flag pole was dedicated. |
| 2015 | - | A Sherman County Cultural Coalition grant funded a Quilt Documentation Project. The Society supported placement of a time capsule with Oregon Department of Transportation at Biggs Junction. Activities included school group tours & participation in The Taste of Oregon at Cottonwood Canyon State Park. |
| 2016 | - | The Society teamed up with Paint Nite to raise funding to upgrade audio/visual materials and supported a community project to install a headstone for Sherman County’s photographer, Will Raymond. Activities included Joe Dabulskis’ program, The Art of Taxidermy, an annual Pioneer Day for young pioneers and installation of a Bike Friendly Station. |
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