May - Yamhill County Historical Society

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Newsletterand Jotraul of the Yamhill CountyHistorical Society
April Board Meeting Highlights
The YCHS board met in the Dayton Christian
Church on April l0th. CorrespondencesecretaryMarjorie
Owens reported five piecesof correspondenceincluding
emails. Under the Museum report, stainlesssteel screensare
being made to keep vermin from entering under the church.
Volunteer Chair: no report. Membership chair Gloria Lutz
reportedthat membershipforms would be availableaJtonight's meeting.Preservationreport:photoscanningand
databaseentry continues,lvith nvarty 1000 having been
processedto date.JenniferSokol Blosser,one ofour new€st
volunteers,coslinues to do an cxcellentjob with these,and
has preparedttuee-ring binders containing copies ofthe
.photclrcanswhich should help future researcherswith their
tasks.
Old Business:Angela and Darrell Flood reported
that the Lafayette Heritage Days event, scheduledfor August I lth & l2th, is still being planned,and will includea
breakfast,a parade,contestsfor the longesthandlebarmustache and the best period costumeand much more. Our covered wagon will be part of the festivities. Building Maintenance:Danny Fox has now startedthe processofrechinking the Log Building, at a cost of $7,000, payableover
three months.The annualYCHS picnic is scheduledfor
August l8th at noon,to be held in Nancy Thor4ton'sbam in
MooresValley. More detailsto follow in our summeredition.
New Business:Director report: Katherine updated
the board on the planning committee activities, a possible
computerhardwaregrant, and submitted a proposeda volunteer code ofethics form for consideration.A groundbreaking ceremonyfor PhaseI of the new museumwill be
held in conjunction with the farm tractor plowing event on
the l4th of this month at the new museumsite, weatherpermitting. The land transfer for the new addition to our current
5 acreparcel has not beencompleted.An Oregon Heritage
Conferencewill be held in Pendletonon May 3rd thru May
5th. The First Federal Savingsand Loan has donated
$631.33to our cause,which was appliedto the covered
wagon trailer purchase.Dorothy Gunnesshas purchasedthe
First FederalBank gate, a historic and signifrcant part ofnot
only her family history, but also that of McMinnville and all
of Yamhill County.A categoryof SpecialLife Membership
was discussedand will be consideredat a future board meeting. The Perrydalerailroad depot has been offered to our
society and plans are in the works to dismantle and transport
it to our new site for safekeepingand eventualreconstruction. The Yamhill County Women for Agriculture has approachedShirley Venhausconcerningthe establishmentof
an areain our new facilities to promote their cause,along
with initial and continuedmonetary support,if details can
be worked out.
May 2007
#*it"t:
ffiare
Preserving
our Past
ourFuture
From Your President
ln the last two monthsthe YCHS has beenfortunateto
receivesomewonderful donations.
Organ: Mr. & Mrs. RussellBarney donateda circa
1880ReedOrganto the Museum.It was manufacturedby W.
Bell and companyin Guelph,Canada.This organreportedly
saw servicewith the McMinnville's pioneerFirst Christian
,Church,formally iocatedat 5h and Cowls street.Barneyretrieved the organfrom a tool shednearSheridanin October
2006 and lovingly restoredit.
A grandpiano that also has Yamhill family connections. More informationto follow.
Orville and RoseBemard'scollectionof Indian anowheadsand other locd Native Americancollectedover the years
has beendesignatedto come to the society.He told of walking
plowed fields and streamareasafter high water and finding
them lying on top of the ground.Orville estimatedthat approximately 90% of his collection was found in Yamhill County.
Orville and Rosearrangedthe collectionin frames,glassedtop
tablesand in cupboards.We are looking forward to displalng
them at our new site.
As a result of an article in the News Registeraboutour
up coming farm equipmentbuilding, Walt Stahlneckercontactedus aboutdonatinghis father's 19498N Ford Tractor to
the museum.Walt's parentsOrin and Erma Stahlneckerlived on
the family's 33 acredairy farm locatedon Highway 240 near
Newberg.Orin usedthe tractor for many purposesincluding
tilling the fields, harvestingcrops,cleaningbams, working the
family orchardand other tasks.We went out to look at the tractor and discoveredajewel. Orin passedaway aboutthreeyears
ago.Ray Kauer got on the tractor, hit the key and it cranked
right off as if to say, "There is still life in this old tractor"! The
handbook that showedlots of use is still with the tractor.
That sameday we visited Alan and IreneTessman
who live on Bell Road aboveNewberg on Man's family farm.
You may rememberAlan and Don from our meetingat the
Gibbs School.They helpedmove the schoolto its presentsite.
Alan has donateda Deloach48 inch circular sawmill to the Museum.Built around 1900,John D. Tessman(Alan's father)operatedthe sawmill on the family farm from 1932through 1954,
sawing lumber for farm buildings and neighbors.The engine
had beensold but Ken and Pam Haggard,of McMinnville,
have offered the donationof a steamenginefor the sawmill. It
will be moved to the new Museum site where it will be reassembled and put to use again.Ed Banke has offered to donatehis
time to get the enginerunning again.Wouldn't it be greatif the
old mill could producethe lumber for its own building.
Have you notice the wonderful articles in the newspapers?ThanksKatherine.
That'sjust a few of the things that havebeengoing on with
YC.HS. SincerelyShirley
The Yamhill Counly Historical Society is a nonprofit tax exempt educational and public service
corporation established to protect, preserve and share the history and heritage of Yamhill County
Page 2
OFFICERS - 2OO7
Presideirt
Shirley Venhaus
472-7328
Vice President
Lorna Grauer
843-325I
Secretarv
Aaron lflarkintin
Treasurer
Ken Williams
835-31
t0
MembershioSecretarv
Gloria Lutz
472-7563
Corresoonding
Secretarv
Marjorie Owens
843-3081
Board of Directors
Eileen Lewis
835-753
I
Shirley McDaniel
662-3528
Dan Linscheid
843-262s
Colin Armstrong
472-6489
ProeramDirector
Barbara Knutson
843-2069
Volunteo Coordinator
Iouise Heindl
6624218
Newsletter
Dan Linschejd
Car Pool Coordinator
JoannelYatts
835-s893
Librarian
JeanSartor
472-63I 2
MUSEUM
WINTERHOURS:
Septthru May:
Saturdays&
lV'ednesdays
l0a.m. to
4 p.m. or by appointment
605Market Street
LafayetteOregon
Phone:864-2308
@2007
YCHS
The WestSide
May 2007
Spotlight On a New Volunteer
So much effort has been put into preservationand easyaccessfor our wonderful photo collection. A number ofvolunteers have numbered,documentedand placed photos in archival sleeves.
The processofscanning them into our data basefor easyretrieval had begun when the volunteer
working on this part of the project left for severalmonths. Saddened,we knew this project would
take even longer than anticipated,despiteeveryone'shard work. However, we were blessedwith the
right person at the right time approachingus with a desireand passionto fill theseneedsand more.
Jennifer Sokol Blosser askedwhat she could do to help. Pointing her to this project, she
delighted in scanningthe photos and entering information. Almost immediately she suggestedshe
would be willing to combine the last step of this project with a comprehensiveindex for easynoncomputerizedresearch.Could she do this? You bet. With her keen memory, Jennifer retains those
images when she seesvarious pictures, and hundredsof photos down the road, when she seesanother
photo with the sameperson,bam, or whatever,she ties the two together.Severalpeople working on
the sameproject would eliminate that possibility.
With her backgroundin genealogy,sheusesresourcesof our society and the Genealogical
Society holdings to track down identities ofpeople and placesin the photos, and she has done this for
us many times. Just this past Friday, as she held a photo of a grcup of unknown people,using the
above method, shetracked down the family and identified all the people in the photo, including
where they lived. With another photo ofpeople at an
unidentifred school, she was
able to discover the name of
the school. To date, she has
compiled six complete
photo-notebooks,with more
on the way. Jennifer is amazing, and we are so vely
thankful for her willingness
to work with theseold photos.
Jennifer wears
many hats: The daughterof
Linfield College Professor
Peter Richardsonand local
attomey B everly Richardson,
she graduated from
McMinnville High school in
1988. She continuedher
education as an undergrad at
the University of California in Santa Cruz, studied in France for a time before attending and graduating from Lewis and Clark with a Bachelorsdegreein French.Following that she went on to WillametteUniversity Law school for one year, and worked as a trial assistantin McMinnville before
doing Paralegal work in Portland and teaching French for a year.
Jennifer's husbandAlex works at the vineyard founded by his mother & father, Bill &
SusanSokol Blosser. The birth of Jennifer's twin boys initiated her to her most importantjob of all,
that of being a mother. As a stay-at-homemor\ she has been busy working on her extensivefamily
genealogyand volunteering for Gen Web for the last tlree years,transcribing vital statisticsrecords
for a project being done for the stateof Massachusetts.Given her love of genealogyand history she
now volunteersat our museum on the photo project as well as for the Oregon Historical Society in
their photo archives.On top of all this, she is getting ready to start graduateschool at Emporia State
University in Portland to gain her masters degree in library science with a goal to becoming a museumarchivist.
Jennifer is a joy to work with and everyoneenjoys the visits by her two young sons.Note: If
anyonefeels they'd like to try to help identiff some of the people,placesor things in our photos that
are currently unidentified, pleasemake arrangementswith Jennifer or Marjorie Owens to do so. Your
help would be much appreciated.
Email: yamhillhistory@
onlinemac.com
Websites: YCHS is at http//sits5.enlinemac.con/history: our historic photo gallery is at www.co.yamhill.or.us
Page 3
Director'sLog
May 2007
By Katherine Huit
JohnF. Kennedyoncesaid,"Changeis the law of
life . . . and thosewho look only to the pastor presentarecertain to missthe future."
Last month I talked aboutwhat a fabulousjob YCHS
had doneover the yearsin collectingthe artifactsof our local
history. I also commentedon the amazingachievements
of our
presentgroup of volunteersin the areasofpreserving- tasks
which shall continueinto the future and which fulfill theprotect andpreserueportionsof our missionstatement.It is for
our future generationsthat we move toward developingand
building a new museumfacility, which will enablethe Museumto serve as a community resourcefor leaming - thereby
achievingtheshare the history and heritageportion ofthe
YCHS missionstatement.Changeis afoot at YCHS - but it is
with this changethat we move toward the future and exciting
thingsto come!
Speakingofthe future and exciting things,Farm Fest
2007 was an incredibleachievement,with nearly 100people
showingup to watch as a teamof volunteersbroke groundat
our new site and in the process,preparedthe soil for a crop of
oats.Before the tractorshit the dirt, YCHS PresidentShirley
Venhausand I cut the ribbon, signalingthe beginningof Phase
I of the new complex.This eventis yet anotherexampleof
volunteerssteppingup to the plate with amazingresults.They
had a fantastictime participatingand everyonewas wearinga
smile!
Chuck Kadell and his lovely wife Carlenecoordinatedthe wonderful groupof volunteerswho madeFarm Fest
2007 suchan outstandingsuccess.Carleneorganizedthe food
forthsftrm crew, who worked up an app€titepreparing the
soil. Gunny Brandon,of McMinnville, loanedthe Societyan
AmericanFlag for the eventandThe Yamhill County Farm
Bureauloaneda public addresssyst€m.Dave Cruickshank
servedas our masterof ceremonies,presentingthe "tractorson
parade",which featuredmembersof the OregonTwo Cylinder
Club who usedtheir equipmentto preparethe field for the oat
seedprovidedby Steveand GretchenJones,of SelectSeedin
Amity. The tractorteamplansto retum in the autumnto harvestthe crop during our annualHarvestFestivalevent.
Highlighted amongthe vintage farm equipmentwere
Allis-Chalmers,Caterpillar,Cockshutt,Farmall,Ford, Minneapolis-Moline,and Oliver tractorsand implements.Also
featuredwas a 214 JohnDeereplow recentlydonatedto
YCHS by Linda Gusa.Pacific Reflex Sigrrs,of McMinnville,
producedour Farm Festbannerfor a bargain,which we displayedon the old farm machineryat the site. Gloria Lutz was
on handwith the CoveredWagon,and severalyoungsters
enjoyedit immensely.JoanneWatts worked the information
table and helpedwith refreshments,and JeanSartorhelped
preparea load of booksfor saleat the event.Colin and Millie
Armstrong lent their support and got a jump-start on our annual garagesale,raking in $300 in sales.DennisHoisington
capturedthe eventwith his digital cameraand Lester
Herringtondocumentedthe activitieson video. Also helping
were Frank Dummar,Ken Williams, Shirley and Byron
McDaniels,Ken and BarbaraKnutson,and Trudy Dick.
As if donatingland, artifactsand financial support
wasn't enough,Ray and BarbaraKauercontributeda portable
restroom. . . and RamseyMcPhillips, who also donatedland
for our new site, was on handto witnesshis family's farm
produceyet anothercrop ofoats! Thanksto all who contributedto makethis eventsucha greatsuccess!
Now, closeyour eyesand visualizethe new facility wherewe will gatherto recognizeour achievements
past,presentand future- andthe peoplewho madeit all
possible.Can you hearthe applause?I can.Can you see
your fellow members?I can,they are my neighbors.Have
you sharedYCHS' plans for the future with your
neighbors?I have,and I challengeyou, the membersof
YCHS, to bring a new member(or two) to our next meeting
on Tuesdayevening,May 8. This is suchan exciting time to
becomea part of this organization.As mentionedabove,
Gloria Lutz is blazing trails acrossYamhill County with the
CoveredWagon Program,visiting many schoolsand organizationsduring April, with at leastfive visits scheduled
for May. Gloria is alsoour membershipcoordinator- and
she'd love to hearfrom you! You will find her contactinformationon pagetwo of this newsletter.
In the monthsof March andApril, I conducteda
volunteersuryey,and as this newslettergoesto press,I will
begin the task of tabulatingand evaluatingthe comments
and opinionsfor presentationat an all-volunteermeetingin
May. If you, as a member,would like to fill out a surveyor would simply like your voice to be heard,pleasefeel free
to write to me directly (YCHS, PO Box 484, Lafayette,OR
97127),or drop me an email
([email protected]).
I can also email or mail to you a surveyif you
wish. The informatiqnprovidedin the surveywill help
YCHS with planningand developmentcf memberand volunteeractivities,as well as exhibits,educationaloutreach
and other areasof interestto our membershipand the Yamhill County community.
I've also beenvery busy traveling the Countyto
promoteYCHS and its plansto organizations,individuals
and anyonewho will listen! On the schedulefor May and
Juneare Michelbook Country Club, May 9; NewbergCity
Club, May 15, McMinnville Kiwanis, May 17, Chehalem
Chamberof Commerceat the new site on June 19; andthe
McMinnville Soroptimists,Jwe26,2007. If you'd like to
schedulea presentation,let me know.
ln other news, we have begun an inventory of
YCHS holdings.Yes, a devotedteamof sevenvolunteersis
busy inventoryingthe contentsof all threebuildings in Lafayette.If you would like to join in this activity, pleasecontact me. You will join an incredibleteamof individualswho
enjoy working with the treasuresof Yamhill County,as
well as lively conversationin an effort to identify someof
the more mysteriousobjects!Of course,if inventoryingis
not your thing, thereare many other volunteeropportunities
at the YCHS Museum,and I'd be glad to meetyou sometime in Lafayetteto show you aroundand talk aboutwhere
you might be ableto help.
Thereare someexciting eventscoming up during
the next few months,including the YCHS Annual Picnic.
This yearNancy Thomton hasbeengenerousin offering her
home for this eventon August 18. I hopeto seeyou all
there,so be sureto mark your calendars!This newsletter
marksa breakin publicationuntil July, but I look forward
to seeingyou at our May meeting.Until then, enjoy the nice
springweather,after all it's a beauffil day in Yamhill
Countyl -
YAMHILL COUNTY HISTOMCaN SOCIETY
Orgadzation
U.S.Pctage
P.O. Box 484
Lafayette.Oregon97I 27
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I-afayette Oregon
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ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES
Paid Julv each vear
EIndividual
EFamily
EFriend
E Supporter
$1s
$2s
$50+
$100+
E C o m m u n i t y B u i l d er
$250+
0 C o m m u n i t y B e n e f a c t o r$ 5 0 0 +
Please make checks payable to the Yamhill
ounty Historical Society. New members can
rorate dues monthly from the above table.
embership dues, artifact donations and gifts
re tax deductible.
M e m b e r sr e c e i v et h e W e s t s i d e
ewsletter and accessto our research library
nd museum free of charge. We are an all
olunteer organization, and are constantly on
he lookout for new helpers. If you can assist
s in any way, financially or with your time or
alents, it will be greatly appreciated. If you
re not sureif you paid your annual
e m b e r s h i pd u e s l a s t J u l y , p l e a s ec o n t a c t
l o r i a L u t z a t 4 7 2 - 7 5 6 3 . R a t e sE f f e c t i v e M a v
r.2002.
'l'1""'lll
t the
Church in Yamhill.
Our Board meets at 4:0A, sameplace and
ate. Our progrqm this month will be,
"Intermodql Transportation', by Gordon
'Zimmerman.
ther Events:
)August
11th & 12th: Lafayette Heritage
ys- Still being firmed up.
August 18th: Annual Picnic at Nancy
horntons farm in Moores Valley.
September (date to be announced).
'arvesting
the crop planted in April at the
ew site..
We welcome new members Aaron ll/arkentin,
dward Young, Armand de Rossiet, Patrice
etersen, Darrell and Angela Flood, and
on Leffler. Noel and Mary Martin have
ioined as supporters. ll/e thank you all for
upporting ur organization. We invite you to
'attendour meetings and events, visit our
useum and become more involved in our
ocal history!