Volunteers keep Warrick County Museum running
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A late-1930s wedding dress came into the Warrick County Museum about a month ago, and the volunteers fluttered around the white material.
One person tried to figure out how it would be displayed. Another looked at the material from which the dress was made.
Nevelyn Simpson tried to figure out how old it was.
"I'm usually pretty good at guessing when things were made," Simpson told the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/18cSzgL).
The volunteers don't always see a flood of visitors at the Warrick County Museum, but if something new comes into the museum, they all learn about the history as fast as possible.
"(The museum) is not on everybody's radar," said Colleen Talley, Warrick County Board treasurer.
The Warrick County Museum doesn't have a full-time employee or even a part-time employee. All the workers are board members - with the exception of volunteer Joe Simpson, board member Nevelyn Simpson's husband.
"Everybody has a role," Talley said. "And if someone's not busy, they pick up the slack, whether it's cleaning toilets," or doing other day-to-day activities.
Talley doesn't only handle finances for the board. On Tuesday after 4 p.m., which is when the museum closes, she stayed behind to mop the basement floor.
Gretchen Powers taught Indiana history at Lynnville Elementary. She likes organizing events such as the Holiday Bazaar and the Festival of Trees.
Simpson went to school at Ella Williams, the building that now houses the museum. She likes to set up displays.
Diane Nicholson was born and raised in Boonville. When the volunteers discussed their new fundraiser to raise money to landscape the area around the museum, Nicholson listened, but continued to do her job of opening donation letters and filing them away.
It's rare for the volunteers' conversation to drift from museum business.
Mike Warren crafted a six-foot war ship that sits in the War & Peace room before he slowly stepped in as a board member last year.
Talley said she got involved at the museum - before she fully dived in.
"My family thinks I don't go home," she said with a laugh.
The museum's board is mostly made up of people who are retired, and most of the people who run the museum are retirees.
"You almost have to be retired," Talley said. "One of the volunteers said, and I agree, 'the museum gets me out and keeps me busy.'"
The museum is open from 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the first and third Saturdays of the month.
Talley wants more people to volunteer so the museum could be open more and maybe get an executive director.
This year, the museum had a few projects that needed attention - roof repair, a broken boiler and new windows. An elevator is planned for the near future.
Joe Simpson does all the construction for the building, including putting in new furnaces and removing unnecessary pipes in the basement.
"When I first got here, you could go down the stairs and that was it," Joe Simpson said.
The basement now has a community center and a Tool and Farm room dedicated to Simpson because of all of his work.
"It's fun and rewarding," Talley said. "(The museum) is worth saving."
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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com