Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum
Today is Wednesday and I woke up feeling just like a kid on the first day of school – excited and looking forward to another year of adventure. Plus that smidge of anxiety you get when you are about to embark on something unknown.
For the next fourteen weeks I’ll be spending Wednesdays at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum all day. For starters, it’s Community Historian day (morning, actually) which I know from the past three years of such days will be full of both the new and the old. We’ll be hearing ‘new’ speakers on ‘old’ topics and looking at our Pacific County History from fresh viewpoints. We’ll be taking some field trips, examining some artifacts, and learning more about research techniques. What could be more exciting for the likes of me?
2016 Community Historians
Plus – and here comes the unknown part – I’ve volunteered to work on a cataloging project in the museum’s research library. It’s a large collection, recently acquired, and needs to be indexed before it’s ready for “public consumption.” So, from now until the end of April, I’ll be spending my afternoons upstairs in the museum’s research center hard at it. Oh, and did I say that the collection is sixteen jam-packed banker boxes of Pacific County history? Woot! Woot!
Schoolhouse Clock
The smidge of anxiety part involves the immensity of the commitment and, more importantly, my own ability to stay on task without straying. Can I really go through folder after folder, listing the contents but not pausing to read a little here or a lot there? It will be a true test. And, to further complicate things, Community Historian Michael Lemeshko has volunteered to work right alongside me. Since we are both talkers and sharers with regard to Pacific County History, can we resist the temptation to waste precious time with ‘wow-look-at-this’ commentary along the way?
Even more to the point right now — should I be packing a lunch? Or will we take time out to go someplace for a bite? And will we allow ourselves coffee breaks? So many decisions…
Pack a lunch (Though I usually go to Luanne’s ). Talking about your finds and straying a bit makes a daunting task more fun. We’re looking forward to sharing our Wednesday afternoons with you!
If it’s a volunteer project, comment away. For really intriguing things that you don’t have time to peruse closely, take pictures and send them to your email address via text for home perusing. Most of all have fun. I am jealous jealous jealous!
I see fodder fro some new books coming out of this adventure. Enjoy!