Crow Valley School Museum Ready for Busy Summer

— from Pegi Groundwater —

With clean windows and swept floors, the Crow Valley School Museum volunteers are ready to open the doors on May 27.  The Museum, located at 1668 Crow Valley Road on Orcas Island, will be open 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm every Friday and Saturday until Labor Day. This historic schoolhouse can also be viewed by appointment; contact Rebecca at Rebecca.1420@yahoo.com. Groups that are celebrating family reunions or are part of weekend weddings have enjoyed having the Crow Valley School Museum on their list of “must-see” places during their visit to Orcas Island.

The Museum’s historical pictures and documents about the original one room school will bring you back to a time when students walked to school and brothers and sisters sat side by side in grades 1 through 8. In 1893, students only went to school 63 days of that year. The teacher was paid $50  and had to room and board with someone. Teachers moved from one district to another. One student recalls following her teacher to three different schools because her parents wanted her to have a good education.

Visitors to the Crow Valley School Museum see original clothing belonging to children that attended the school in the past, teaching charts, and textbooks. Visitors are encouraged to play the old pump organ that fills the room with sounds of the past. Gifts and souvenirs are available for purchase.

An exciting addition this year will be ghost stories told by our local professional storyteller, Antoinette Botsford, at the Crow Valley School Museum on Friday nights starting July 8 and ending August 27.  Starting at 5:00 pm, an hour of “Spooky Tales with an Orcas Spin” will only be $10 per person and a family of four can attend for $25. Local residents should get their tickets early. Seating will be limited and you will not want to miss this evening about our popular, and not-so-popular, Orcas ghosts.

Rebecca Johnson, the Crow Valley School Museum Docent Coordinator, has trained a wonderful group of volunteers and the Museum thanks Spence Clark, Doug Emerick, Irene McKinley, Irene O’ Neil, Wally Morgan, Doug and Joyce Pearson, and Debbie Zammit, for helping promote and preserve the history of the Crow Valley School Museum as part of the Orcas Island Historical Society.