Meet Me at the Museum!

It is clear as a bell this morning at Fort Walla Walla Museum and this looks like it will be a great day, perhaps to be followed by a glorious weekend. Finally! Sunny and warm, just classic Walla Walla weather.

The weekend also brings a couple of Museum events. Today we open the first of our "A Special Season" of six temporary exhibits. Because of construction, we felt a need to keep value high for our visitors. We did not raise rates this year as we might have (due to construction; still the same for a third straight year), but as the building going up is replacing one that held most of our changing exhibits, we thought we should provide something 'extra' this year.

Collections Manager Laura and her mini-army of volunteers have put together four 'permanent' exhibits in the Headquarters foyer and today we unveil When Grandma & Grandpa Were Kids: Children's Clothing from 1875-194. It's pretty cool to see ... one section features a variety of underwear, including a small-scale set of back-flap long-handles. Elsewhere are christening gowns and ... yep ... a boy's dress. I'm told in the long ago, young boys wore such things before their first pair of short pants. Who knew? There's some children's toys that are of interest, too, including a miniature washing machine of the hand-powered variety and a pair of spring shoes, sort of like a pogo stick without the stick for each foot. Seeing is believing. There is also a parasol-covered wicker pram that is a must see!

On Sunday you can chat up Walla Walla's first mayor, E.B. Whitman, as portrayed by local attorney Dan Clark. The Living History performance is preceeded by 19th century popular music played by the Museum's own Oregon Trail Band. The OTB recently acquired themselves a pump organ, though I'm not sure know they have anyone to play it yet ... are YOU interested?

The Museum is open 10 am - 5 pm daily, including weekends and holidays. The Oregon Trail Band plays at 1:30 pm and ol' E.B Whitman strides through almost 150 years of history in a return to the community over which he once presided. Be sure to ask him what he thinks of all the changes in that time!

Today's photos include Dan as E.B Whitman at the Museum's Union Schoolhouse, the back-flap long-handles and wicker pram in When Grandma & Grandpa Were Kids, and the the 2008 edition of the Oregon Trail Band. This weekend, call your friends and tell 'em "Meet me at the Museum!"

Volunteer Day

Tomorrow is the day Fort Walla Walla Museum hosts its annual volunteer orientation meeting. The Museum survives (really) because of the efforts of more than 400 volunteers ... we truly could not do all that we do without their many, varied and wonderful talents. A number of those volunteers are once-a-year participants in our special events. Last year we had nearly 100 historical re-enactors at Fort Walla Walla Days. Day to day in the season, we use the services of a smaller but tremendously dedcated group of about 90 folks.

Esther, Barb, & Sally help with the textile collection, both in terms of curation and maintenance, but also in developing and creating exhibits. Helen helps us with exhibits, particularly in posterboard-mounting the text and images visitors see. Vi heps with the gardening, as a Store Assistant, Tour Docent, and keeping my paper files from devouring my office. Millie is a mainstay among the Building Attendants. Steve, like Vi, is a jack-of-many-trades helping with collections and exhibits and as a Tour Docent. A Touchet-area family has helped us garden in recent years, all four showing up to lend a hand. The list is a long one and no one is left out who wishes to participate.

On Friday we hosted a group of 20 or so young people from AmeriCorps. Each of them is required to come up with a service project and Patrick chose the Museum as a place to assist (his gal-pal Emily is the young woman, also a volunteer, you can see signing the Pledge of Allegiance through the Volunteer page on our web site: www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/volunteer.htm ). These folks helped primarily with the myriad chores of cleaning the pioneer village in preparation for visitation season, now just 8 days away. Their sheer numbers make light work of an otherwise immense project for Laura, our already heavily taxed Collections Manager.

If you're interested in giving back to the community, sharing oour wonderful community with vistors from across the country and around the world, or if you just like hanging out with like-minded folks having a good time, then come on over at 10 am Wednesday morning. The coffee pot will be on and somebody always brings cookies!

Here We Go!

Here we go!! We are finally underway with our Museum expansion project ... demolition of Exhibit Hall 1 was accomplished yesterday. After years of planning, months of fundraising ... followed with what seemed interminable waiting, the project got a grand beginning. Exhibit Hall 1 is the oldest of our formerly five display buildings and nearing the end of its 'life expectancy.' Nevertheless, it proved remarkably resiliant beneath the force of pneumatic power. As the Museum takes a step into the future, we can assume Carl Penner and others among our founders would be applauding along side the rest of us.

As I stood out in the cold drizzle to record the event, I coouldn't help but ponder the nature of reality: from destruction comes life ... the plant kingdom is fully aware of that maxim and it seems to apply to our situation, too. The new Entrance building will largely cover the footprint of Exhibit Hall 1. To take it a step further, nearly 95% of the old structure has been/will be re-used or recycled. Much of the concrete will be crushed for aggregate in the new building ... we are truly building on a foundation provided by our own 'pioneer forebearers.' More than 300 2 x4s were removed for future use and seemingly acres of strand board were salvaged. Much of the insulation was offered to interested parties. Even the two steel doors were rescued and donated to a local church.

Today a crew is hauling away the detritus. Soon we shall see the beginnings of the Museum's future rise Phoenix-like from the same location.. We'll keep you posted.

Preserving & Sharing Via Technology

The last couple of days have seen an interesting convergence of 19th century atrifacts and 21st century technology at Fort Walla Walla Museum. The first item that comes to mind is the grant we received Monday; the entire operation was done online, relating to the funding of our 1805-1806 Lewis & Clark diorama.

Another idea on the horizon is to turn a cd full of pictures of regional century+ old barns into a screen saver set for purchase through the Museum Store ... we have a couple of other notions on deck in that realm, too. These are things we can do in-house to had depth to a visitor's experience at the Museum. We have a collection chock full of interesting photographs dating way back to the community's origins; surely something can be done with some of those images, too. Ditto the several books whose copyrights we control.

All of this brings me to our mission: to preserve and share Walla Walla regional heritage. A few years ago, we acquired software that allowed us to put our entire collection records into digital format. We now know exactly how many items we have in the collection at any one time and, in theory, exactly where to locate any particular artifact. Sounds simple, but we have more than 42,000 items in the collection ... and they don't sit still.

Items are routinely rotated in and out of archival storage for displays, inter-museum loans, off-campus displays (see the exhibit case in the lobby of the Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference center), and the always possible "other" category. Digitizing the collection was a major boon to preservation, allowing us to keep track of each and every item and devote regular periodic attention to its maintenance.

If technology allows us to enhance preservation (don't forget the digitized controls of the 'climate controlled' buildings and artifact repositories), it also helps us to share the wonderful heritage of the region's past. Being able to take a home a digital chink o' the past is a whole "brave new world" for the Museum and we'll likely move more in that direction.

Helping Hand for New Exhibit

Much of import happened while I was away yesterday! Fort Walla Walla Museum plies the grants market several times each year and we were rewarded with an announcement that one of those 'asks' had been acknowledged. It was a national-level grant that will help us move forward with some of the inside, visitor-visible aspects of Phase I construction.

Exhibit Hall I was emptied of all its various and sundry trasures over the winter and will soon be demolished (maybe starting today?). Among the exhibits housed in it was our life-size Lewis & Clark diorama. The scene depicted involved three mannequins representing Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Yellept, a headman of the Wallah Wallah people. They are in the midst of a gift exchange, Cap't. Clark's military saber for Yellept's "eligant white horse," as it was described in the journals. Behind it stood a mural representing Wallula Gap, just south of where the Walla Walla River enters the Columbia. Much of that exhibit was re-displayed in our Headquarters for this season, but we had to bid adieu to the mural.

In the new Entrance building about to arise phoenix-like from the demolished Exhibit Hall I, the diorama will be re-created. We have had preliminary discussion with a local artist of renown and acclaim to produce a new mural with seasonal coloring more appropriate to the actual time frame depicted, as well as a new view of the Gap from the far bank of the Columbia River where stood Yellept's village. As a whole, the scene will be more historically accurate, and colorwise, more pleaseing to the eye. Thanks to the new grant, we shall be able to proceed with the plan.

Stay tuned! Big things are under way!!

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch ...

An off-campus meeting today about diversity training, then a long weekend. The work continues back at Fort Walla Walla Museum, where a new season is just 19 days away. Just yesterday, Operations Manager Don landed our food vendor for the season, no small trick in a shaky economy. Collections Manager Laura continues work on the new Headquarters displays for 2009, Ops Assistant Anne continues to re-stock the Museum Store, and Building & Grounds Manager Jim gears up for the final steps in sprucing up the appearance of the place. Even Tour Coordinator Bill is busy, as we already have a number of school tours booked, a string of Columbia River cruise tours headed our way, and even a pre-season special booking by an auto-enthusiast group from Boise. Bookkeeper Carolyn keeps us on the straight and narrow ... her work has ensured seven consecutive years of finishing 'in the black' (before depreciation).

I sent off a news release to the MSM yesterday about how so much about this season is NEW. New exhibits, new Living History characters, a new building in progress, new food vendor ... it's amazing! There's never been a better year to get involved at Fort Walla Walla Museum!

If you'd like to volunteer, there's lots of great opportunities. Call Don at 509.525.7703 and join the fun!

No blog on Monday, so see y'all Tuesday. -Paul (that's me doing an interview at the Museum with CNNMoney when it named Walla Walla as the best place to retire)

Laura's Sense of Sunshine

Everyone, I think, is pretty happy that the gloomy days of winter are getting to be fewer and farther between. As I look out my office window, the sun is shining even if it is just 20F out there ... even that beats the heck out of dreary gray fog and drizzle.

At Fort Walla Walla Museum, sunshine presents a bit of a problem for Laura, our Collections Manager, however. As we are in a construction season, we will have a number of exhibits in our Headquarters Conference Room this year. The wall of south-facing windows have nice blinds, but even when closed the amount of light that 'leaks' in will cause damage to fragile artifacts. One of the exhibits planned for spring is a selection of our wedding dress collection (pictured), some dating to the mid-1800s. Other textile exhibits will also be displayed in the room this year, including our Annual Heritage Quilt Show in autumn(2008 show pictured).

What to do? When the going gets tough, the tough get busy. This week, Laura and her volunteers ... Esther, Sally, Sis, Helen ... are cutting poster board to fit over the windows. There will also be a drape covering the entire wall, so between the two, sunlight will be effectively blocked. Our mission is to "preserve and share" the heritage of the Walla Walla region. We can't share what we don't preserve, so we take that pretty seriously. "Preserve" means forever, and while current technologies don't let us guarantee that, we do look to get things about 200 years into the future. Our successors can then figure out how to take care of the next several centuiries, so that the fabulous story of the people of the Walla Walla valley can continue to be told for future generations.

Coffee Day a Little Different Today

It sometimes feels like the whole world runs on coffee, doesn't it? Just think about all the various places even in a small town like Walla Walla where you can get a cuppajoe, from the many drive-throughs to the restaurants, from the coffee shops to the grocery stores, and so many folks at home. It's easier to count up my non-'evil brown brew*'-swilling friends than those who do imbibe.

Wednesday at the Museum is coffee day, it seems, as several of our stalwart volunteers (Rod, clad in his Living History gear above, and Steve, the '2nd story man' working on a new display in our Headquarters) arrive to share a moment or two with us before we get on with the day. The staff is rolling in, too: Don's back, Jim's here early, as ever, and Anne is here, too. Laura will be in soon, herself. The coffee's the same today, at least no worse than usual, but the conversation is a little more animated. We got the last approval we needed yesterday to begin the demolition of Exhibit Hall 1, the first step in constructing our new Entrance Building!

Those are two of the architect's rendering of the new entrance building pictured at the top.

We concluded 2008 with just enough money in our capital campaign to make a really nice start on Phase I construction ... call it 'Phase I-A,' if you will. We're still actively fundraising this year to acquire some items currently unfunded, so if you'd like to help, give us a call at 509.525.7703. If you'd like to use a credit card, go to our website at http://www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/ and look for the DonateNow button in the left margin toolbar. We're carrying the past into the future ... you can help carry the load!

*hat tip to Mike Schultz, Head Librarian at University of Montana-Western

Outreach ... A Great Way to Listen

Community outreach ... we do a lot of that around Fort Walla Walla Museum. It seems like everyday one or the other of us is making a presentation, repesenting the Museum at a meeting, or generally being out and about in the area. It was my turn today as a participant in the local newspaper's, The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, (http://www.union-bulletin.com/) community board.

A dozen or so of us show up at 7:00 in the morning to coffee, donuts, and interesting conversation. While the talk mainly centers around the function of the paper, it spreads effortlessly into the role of the paper in the community. It's an interesting cross section of the community that participates, along with a handful of U-B employees ... this time including about-to-be new publisher Rob Blethen. There's a representative from local tourism interests, the Sweet Onion Festival folks, a school teacher, a retired judge, a retired doctor and others from around the community. A pretty representative group

Others of the Museum staff sit on the local Parks & Rec Advisory Board, the local Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, a nearby county's cemetery board, Tourism Walla Walla, and a host of other heritage-related groups. It's good for us to get out and give back to the community that's been so generous to us. It also keeps us from talking in an 'echo chamber,' that kind of self-referentialism that happens when outside viewpoints fail to enter a discussion. We like to think we provide a service to the community, but if no one takes advantage of that service, it's time to change direction, right? So far, the listening has paid off ... I think we're on the right track.

Hob-nobbing with My Fellow Museumistas

This may be the coolest job ever ... I know it's the coolest job I've ever had. I get to meet all kinds of people from all over the world, spend a lot of my time writing about things I know and care about, and put almost everything I've ever learned and done to use at a worthy enterprise.

Last year at this time I had a hand in organizing the regional museums into what hs become known as "The Blue Mountain and Columbia Basin Museum Cooperative." We exist to cross-promote one another, back-up a sister institute in the event of an emergency, and generally serve as a source of information. Hangin' out with my peers is especially cool because they are so interesting. We run new ideas past each other, communicate about big ideas and small, proof each other's work ... on and on and on. Not long ago, I referred one member seeking information about the 'Blalock Flume' (that's him in the photo) to another I knew had that information.

There are all kinds of organziations in the co-op: not-for-profits, house museums, a tribal cultural insititute, a for-profit tour company organizations with no place (yet) and a place with no organization (anymore) ... take your pick, there are 20-something of us. You can download our brochure from Fort Walla Walla Museum's web site: http://www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/area_museums.htm just scroll to the bottom of the page. The map side of the brochure is posted here for you to see.

Do you recall the scene in The Wizard of Oz near the end when the Wizard is about to leave Oz in his "Omaha State Fair" hot air balloon? He tells the denizens of the Emerald City that he's going off to "hob nob with my flellow wizards." I feel like that today ... our biennial meeting is being held today at the Franklin County Hisotrical Society Museum in the Tri-Cities. I'll be rubbing elbows with some of the best!

We started our day out here at the Museum much like our pioneer ancestry did ... without computer connectivity. Like them, we are still subject to the whims of Mother Nature. It appears lighning took out our ISP's hardware up in the Blue Mountains.

Faced with that, we began work the old-fashined way ... by talking, and then by hand. By 11:00 or so, the system had come back on ... much sooner than anticipated ... and we were left to ponder the vagaries of modern technology, yet how pervasive (and necessary) they are to our daily lives.

Wouldn't the pioneers be amazed at what we can do? They might also be amazed at how few folks, comparativley, are involved in putting food on the table.

Enjoy the 'then and now' photos of regional agriculture.

Grandparents

Grandparents and grandchildren ... is there a more wonderful bond that exists in the world? Grandparents often are beyond the angst of child-rearing and the duties of discipline that fall more heavily on parents. Children get a little more freedom, but are still under the auspices of caring adults. For kids, the concept of their parents' parents is wonderful to explore ... "these are the people who knew my mom when she was my age."

We see lots of grandparent-grandchildren visitors at Fort Walla Walla Museum and we try to do our part to encourage that. The concept of the wisdom of elders being shared with a new generation is the foundation of human progress. On Grandparents Day, Sunday, September 13, the Museum offers free admission to all children under 12 who arrive with one or more grandparent. Day in/day out, the Museum offers a senior discount at $6 for those 62 and above and charges kids 6-12 just $3; kids under 6 get in free.

It's important for kids to know that many things they take for granted requires a lot of hands-on labor. Food doesn't magically arrive at the store, nor do their toys and clothes. Being able to equate their labor with productivity is a good way to ensure that things keep rollin' along the way they ought to.

Don't wait for a special occasion. We all know that parents are frightfully busy these days, so if you have an afternoon, grab your young ones and bring 'em out to the Museum. It's educational, it's fun, and it's a wonderful way to show those special kids how much you care about them.

Living, Breathing History

At Fort Walla Walla Museum, saying 'history comes alive' has some meaning. Each weekend (every Sunday, plus Saturdays June through August) during the season, you can experience more than 40 Living History performances. Some involve just one person, often telling of the past through an ancestor's eyes. Others are accomplished with two or three performers, and a some involve quite a few folks.

Most, but not all, of the characters portrayed lived in the 19th century. The 'rules' are that none of the performers has yet passed on, and are somewhat mystified as to how they 'travel through time' to be with the audience. Using 'talking sticks' to amplify their voices is technology beyond their ken.

Keeping in character is also one of the rules. Opinions on modern topics are not possible from those who lived 100 years or more in the past. It does, however, make you wonder what a real time traveler might think of modern ways of doing things or, better yet, how similar problems today were solved in the past.

All programs begin at 2:00 pm in the Museum's pioneer settlement. On the first and thrid Sundays of each month in the April through October visitation season, patrons can enjoy popular 19th century music with the Museum's own 'Oregon Trail Band.' The program has been described as a '40-course class in regional history.' I don't know about that, but the characters are always genuine, engaging, and ready to answer your questions. Oh, yes ... they're a lot of fun, too. A full schedule of programs can be found at www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/living_history.htm Come on out ... this ain't your high school history class!

Changing Face of Agriculture

The logo of Fort Walla Walla Museum includes these words: "Horse-Era Agriculture." That relates to the pre-mechanized way of doing farming and ranching in this part of the world, but as anyone who has ever traveled through this lovely corner of creation knows, this is still farm country.

Wheat still predominates, but vineyards are increasing in acreage every year. Onions still take up lots of room, but asparagus is no longer a major commodity. Orchards, too, are not as widely found as in previous years. Times change and crops changes, too, as do the animals involved in farming. At one time sheep were incredibly plentiful in the area, but no longer. Among the more interesting animals gaining a hoof-hold in the area are goats. One can see herds large and small in many different places, leading one to wonder what is done with all those animals.

The answer partly lies to the west of Dayton, where Montelleit Fromagerie does wonderful things with goat milk. I haven't seen any Angora goats, but that doesn't mean there aren't any in the neighborhood. Some go into meat production, something new for the palate in these parts.

The goat kids pictured here are from the Dalan Family Farm just west of Walla Walla. the kids were newborn last Tuesday, February 24. Enjoy!

Women's History

The Washington State Historical Society and Museum is about to kick-off the centennial commemoration of Washington State's women’s suffrage with the opening of "Women’s Votes, Women’s Voices" starting at 11 a.m this Saturday.

"Enter the Museum and transport back in time to a suffrage rally; join a women’s march, put on your women’s suffrage pin, and interact with costumed greeters and special guests. Enjoy performances from Living Voices, “Hear My Voice: Win the Vote,” and Linda Allen. Light refreshments will be served."

Schedule for exhibit opening celebration: 11 a.m. – Welcome, introductions, and exhibit acknowledgements 11:30 – Exhibit doors open after ribbon cutting 11:30 – 1 p.m. – Family art-making activity NOON – Refreshments served on the Mezzanine 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. “Women’s Voices” program in the Auditorium, featuring storyteller and actress Eva Abram, Living Voices, and singer/song writer Linda Allen.

FREE admission all day, special programming 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Visit WashingtonHistory.org for more information, hours and directions.

For the past few years, Fort Walla Walla Museum has been conducting its own "Women's History Celebration" in August, as we move within a decade of universal suffrage for American women. The women of the Living History Company explain the problems and successes, heartaches and joys of womanhood in their eras. http://www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/livinghistory/womenshistory.htm

To help honor the day, the Museum admits all girls age 12 & under for free and charges adult women 77% of the usual rate, to mark the fact that American women, on average, still earn only 77% of an average man's salary.

You might also wish to follow the saga of Narcissa Whitman in serial form as it appears in the Blue Mountain edition of Tidbits. Whitman Mission National Historic Site's Renee Rusler is spinning out the incredible story week by week.

Carrying the Past into the Future

"Carrying the Past into the Future" has been the byword of the Capital Campaign for our Services and Facilities Enhhancement Project, but this week it's been more like introducing the past to the future. The newness of this blog is testimony to that, but we've also instituted an acount with YouTube. Our "Community at a Crossroads" video can be seen by going to www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/support_us.htm and scrolling down to the bullet points near the bottom of the page. There's another of our volunteer, Emily, using American Sign Language to present 'The Pledge of Allegiance." That one's pretty funny, at least at the end ... and you can see that I need some work in the editing department. For 'Em,' click www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/volunteer.htm, again scroll down to the bullet points, looking for the word "Watch" as a link to 'Watch 'Em sign the Pledge."

That's a picture of Emily ... she may have set the all time record for carmel corn sales at Fall Harvest Festival that day.

We're also gearing up to a season enhanced by our many volunteers. We have a meeting scheduled for 10 am on March 25, so if you're interested, stop in and see where your talents can match our needs. The coffee pot will be on and someone is likely to bring donuts, too. Here's a chance to be productive and useful (we couldn't operate without all our volunteers), meet like-minded people, meet people from all across the country and around the world (we get visitors from all 50 states and at least 30 countries every year!), and a chance to share your accumulated wisdom, strengths, and skills with those of us who very nearly get 'paid to play.' You know, we are never so useful as when we serve others. Volunteering is good for the spirit and actually helps keep you healthier. Call a pal and see what you can do to "help carry the past into the future!"