Heritage Museum recognizes volunteers

About two dozen volunteers and board members gathered at the Heritage Museum in Libby Sunday afternoon for the annual volunteer appreciation luncheon. Before the luncheon kicked off members of the board, dressed in period garb, posed with one of the newly-restored Model-Ts in front of the old gas station.

Susan Castaneda, president of the board, welcomed the volunteers to the luncheon and thanked them for keeping the museum viable. The museum hosted 2,617 visitors during its summer season, with volunteers being completely responsible for staffing the front desk and greeting those visitors.

“I am grateful for knowing we are doing a good job and providing a great experience to our visitors when they come through our door,” she said. “Without our volunteers, we can’t keep this place going.”

Castaneda highlighted the museum’s successes during the summer season, including the beginning work on the Shay locomotive, the restoration of a large portion of the museum grounds, the cleaning up of the area known as the boneyard and a lighting upgrade inside the museum.

She asked each of the volunteers present to stand and introduce themselves to the assembled gathering, and to tell the audience how long they’ve volunteered at the museum and why they choose to do it. Overwhelmingly, the volunteers said they donate their time from a sense of community and a desire to help preserve the area’s rich history.

“I volunteer because I think Libby is a very nice community,” said volunteer Marvel Thompson. “It’s a great place to live and raise a family and I want to help keep this place alive.”

Volunteer Clarence Johnson spoke about his work maintaining the grounds. He said he spends most of his days at the museum working on the grounds, but has also helped with the Shay locomotive. The 68 acres of grounds at the Heritage Museum are also completely maintained by volunteers.

Castaneda recognized Johnson for his more than 30 years of service.