Volunteers Get the Museum Ready

— by Margie Doyle —

Michael Budnick, James Lobdell, John Willis and their supervisor worked Saturday to install new bricks in the museum walkway

Volunteers buzzed inside and out the Orcas Island Historical Museum last Saturday at its annual spring cleaning. Inside, Carla Stanley and Curator Clark MacAbee directed traffic as books and framed pictures were moved out of the vault in order to make room for a gift shop.

Outside, John Willis and James Lobdell directed a crew in locating the proper space and installing newly engraved bricks in the walkway.

The Museum is looking for a few good volunteers. Call 376-4849 Wednesday through Sunday or stop by the historic building on North Beach Road in Eastsound and speak to the new Volunteer Coordinator Natalie Baloy, or email info@orcasmuseum.org

The museum collections include:

• Six original homestead cabins
• An extensive collection of artifacts from early European-American settlers
• Printed materials: books, brochures, newspapers, posters and maps
• Photography: including approximately 2000 photographs by James T. Geoghegan
• The intact skull and partial bone remains of a 14000 year old Bison Antiquus
• A selection of Native American artifacts including tools, utensils and textiles
• An ongoing Oral History project that documents and preserves the life stories of long-timeOrcas Island residents
• A significant archive of documents that form the basis for genealogical and family history research
• The Colton-Harris Moore Collection, composed of materials and evidence from the local police investigation