Volunteers
Volunteer Coordinator:  Char Asikainen, 734-2935

                The museum has one paid staff member—Mark Thompson, our curator—who is employed half-time for 10 months of the year.  While the thirteen members of our Board of Trustees are also involved in many aspects of the museum’s operations, we have to rely heavily on volunteers from our “Friends of the Museum” group.  During 2007, more than sixty volunteers were involved in our various programs and activities.

                We are always in need of volunteers, so if you are looking for a rewarding way to spend some of your spare time, why don’t you become a museum volunteer.  Following are some of the activities that we need help with:

Office Assistance

                We always have lots of typing and editing projects, and we have a huge filing system that has to be maintained.  Volunteers just completed consolidating three separate filing systems—genealogy, photos, and topical—into a single unified system.  Now, that system needs some fine-tuning to improve its organization.  It’s actually an interesting project, because you get to go through all the files.  I guarantee, you’ll discover lots of interesting things about the history of the county.

                We also need to develop an inventory of photographs in our files, recording each photo and where it is located.  Again, if you are into old photographs, this is an interesting and rewarding project.  It’s also one that will benefit the museum—and the community we serve—for years to come.  Since the fire at the Advance in 2006, we are the primary source in the county for historic photos.

                There are also many times when we could use someone to just “hold down the fort” and answer the telephone when Mark has to be away from the museum. 

                (If you think you might be interested in helping in the office, please give Mark a call at 734-4121.)

Photo Scanning & Printing

                If you don’t know how to scan negatives or photographs . . .

               If you don’t know how to “Photoshop” your pictures to improve them, or correct problems like underexposure or overexposure . . .

                If you don’t know how to size and print your photographs . . .

                We’ve got a GREAT deal for you!  By volunteering to help us with our photo collections, you can acquire these valuable skills.  Mark will teach you everything you need to know . . . and he said to be sure to tell you that “it’s not as complicated as you might think.”

                You’re probably aware that the museum has several huge photographic collections.  Over the more than twenty years that the museum has been operating, we’ve acquired thousands of photographs of people, businesses, buildings, activities, and events in the community. 

                In 2006, we acquired “The Calcite Collection” from O-N Minerals.  That collection documents the history of the Calcite Plant from its inception in 1911 through the 1970’s.  There are more than 42,000 images in the collection, primarily negatives.  There are thousands of those that still need to be scanned.

                We are also currently in the process of adding about 750 images from “The Ferris Parsons Collection.”  These are all negatives that have to be scanned and inventoried.  We’re hoping to be able to have an exhibit of photos from the Parsons Collection later this year.

                As soon as the weather warms up a little, we are also going to be moving “The Leona and James Stewart Photographic Collection” to the museum.  That collection is composed of at least 24,000 negatives.  The photos were taken by Jim Stewart during the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s.  It is a monumental collection, documenting virtually every aspect of life in our community during that period.  Once we get the collection moved into the museum, we’ll have lots of work to do to inventory the collection, scan negatives, and print photos.

                (If you’re interested in helping with these projects, please contact Mark directly at 734-4121.)

Sun Porch Gift Shop

                From May 1 until September 30, our gift shop has to be staffed from noon until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.  It’s not a complicated job, and we’ll teach you everything you need to know.  Rose Buck, volunteer manager of the gift shop, has done a great job in setting up a system that’s easy to use. 

Gardening

                The museum’s flower beds are and shrubs are in need of constant care from spring through the fall.  If you enjoy gardening, we could use your help to maintain our plantings.  It doesn’t take a lot of time, but I’m sure you’d get a lot of satisfaction out of keeping things spruced up.

Housekeeping

                The three floors of the Bradley House total about 5,800 square feet.  You know how much effort it takes to keep a house this size clean.  Our cleaning chores are further complicated by the fact that every room is crammed with displays that must be dusted, washed, and polished on a regular basis throughout the year. 

                If you don’t mind housecleaning, we could sure use your help.  If you are one of those people who actually enjoys housecleaning, you’re going to love helping out at the museum! 

Docents and “Greeters”

                We try to personally greet every visitor, and provide them with an overview of what they will find in our museum.  We have a Guidebook for Docents that provides detailed information on all of our exhibits.  You don’t have to become an expert on the museum.  If you get a question you can’t answer, you can always yell for Mark.  If you volunteer regularly, however, you will have lots of opportunities to explore the museum, and over time you will become very knowledgeable.  Remember:  Our primary goal is to make sure that every visitor receives a warm welcome.  Anything beyond that is frosting on the cake.  By the way, as a docent or greeter you’re also going to meet a lot of interesting people.

Special Events

                Every year, we host a number of special events that bring a lot of people into the museum.  The biggest of these would be Nautical Festival and our Christmas at the Bradley House celebration.  These events bring hundreds of people into the museum and we are always in desperate need of volunteers to help us in a variety of ways.  Our needs range from making coffee and baking cookies to being a host or hostess in one of our exhibit rooms, or reading Christmas stories to children.

            If you think you might be interested in volunteering at the museum, please contact Char Asikainen at 734-2935.  We have “immediate openings!”