Libby Heritage Museum's opening day June 2 highlights 40 years of giving back
David Haines checks out a model train in the Libby Heritage Museum. Haines was looking forward to pulling the rope that makes a train whistle and starts it. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Dan McLaury holds up a glass vile with gold flakes from his gold panning demonstration. he said he probably gives away about an ounce a year. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
As visitors listen in, retired teacher Kathy Powers leads a re-creation of what school was like in 1901 in Libby during Opening Day for the Libby Heritage Museum in its 40th year on Saturday, June 2. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Robert Viergutz, owner and operator of Snap Shot Mining and Milling Co., demonstrates a mine car, powered by compressed air dating back to a time before battery-powered mining machinery. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Drew McLaury works on a blanket pin, which he compared to a “giant safety pin” for holding horse blankets in place, among other uses. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
On its 40th anniversary, the Libby Heritage Museum celebrated the community volunteers who made the local landmark possible, even as it looks for new volunteers to help make sure the museum is still serving the community in another 40 years.
John Davidson, the original building chairman when the museum was created, was an honored guest for the day. He recalled how the original width of the expansive museum building was, more or less, a number he pulled out of his head.
Davidson’s supervisor in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did the planning for the building from a type of barn he remembered from his childhood, Davidson said.
At the time, Davidson remembers being told that he and the other volunteers were crazy to undertake the project, that it could never be completed. His response — something he still stands by — came in the words of a former first sergeant he had in the Army.
“If you’ve got a dictionary, go in there and look up the word can’t. If it’s in there, mark it out. It doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
There were struggles along the way, but they were worth it, he said.
“I think the history is important — the way things are going, I’ve lived through a bunch of it,” he said. “Just, the people, and the families that were the first ones around here.”
Davidson said when he first moved to the area just over 50 years ago, he was caught up in the history of Libby, reading local books on the subject and even getting to meet and hear the stories of some of the “old-timers” who were still around.
At the time, he didn’t realize the impact helping build the museum would have on his own story.
“It changed my life. I was scheduled to transfer to another place to work, and I turned it down and stayed here,” he said.
Davidson remembers the other volunteers fondly, and said he is impressed and proud of the volunteers who have kept the museum going.
“There’s so many people, you can’t hardly list them all,” he said. “I look back on it, and think, well, I just can’t believe it’s 40 years since we opened it.”
The museum is full of it’s own history for Davidson, from pieces donated by people who used them, to rocks in the mining area he pounded with a hammer to make sure they won’t move.
Working the front desk the day of the opening, Jasmine Augustine may be one of the younger volunteers at Libby’s Heritage Museum. At 30 years old, she said she only knew of one for certain whos is younger.
She first thought about volunteering as a teen, but felt intimidated by what the work would involve. Looking back, she’s sorry she didn’t start volunteering sooner.
“And it’s a lot more fun than you might think,” she said. “It’s learning about the history and people. Putting faces — it’s not just dry, dusty dates anymore and old pictures.”
Whether it’s the stories of the people who once settled the area, or the stories from those who lived through some of the history, meeting the people gives a whole new perspective, she said. “It really puts a face on a time that, obviously, I’ll never see.”
From the “Wild West” past that Augustine never knew Libby had, to the stories she has heard from other volunteers, it has all been worth it, she said.
“We are always open for volunteers,” she added. “We would love to have anybody who would like to come out here. We have all kinds of opportunities, from inside with exhibits to outside and mowing lawns.”