On Thursday, June 17, the Friends held our first live, in-person meeting at the Museum in 16 months! The turnout was great – 46 people. Everyone just seemed happy to be out of the house and meeting in-person again. There was a jovial and excited buzz the entire afternoon. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR SHOWING UP AND MAKING IT A FUN DAY! The key points of the meeting, after a spirited social period, were:
- Display of many of the items the Friends had purchased for the museum over the past 16 months – entry floor mats, 6 taxidermy specimens, 3 sample trunks, 3D printer, multiple research books, etc.
- The minutes from May were approved
- The Friends available cash on hand is $7,756.22
- Cafe Zupas donation was $70. Jeff Alpert matched this donation. Thank you Jeff!
- AmazonSmile donated $89.18. If you buy from Amazon, use Amazon Smile and designate the Friends as your charity.
- 320 entries have been submitted to date for the Name the Newcomers contest. The contest ends June 27.
- The next painting fundraiser is at Pinot’s Palette on June 27 from 1-3 pm. it’s great fun, and a super way to make a donation to the friends.
- The summer fundraiser, “Money for Mannequins” will start on July 1. Details to follow.
- Joan Whitely was recognized for her activities in 2020 in single handedly keeping the Friends moving ahead after the pandemic hit. Joan developed the Zoom process and focused all her efforts at keeping the Friends relevant in challenging times. Thank you Joan!
The speaker for this month’s Friends Member’s Meeting was Jeanne Howerton, a local author and photographer, who discussed her new book “Skidoo”. Jeanne is a fourth generation Nevadan, who grew up on the Blue Eagle Ranch, 250 miles north of Las Vegas. An educator by profession, Jeanne is an accomplished photographer and local historian who has published 6 books on the history of Central Nye County. Jeanne has lived in Las Vegas for 50 years and continues researching and writing down the history of Central Nevada. She is currently researching for a new book on Delamar.
Jeanne’s topic was “Finding Love before the age of online Dating”, a story of romance between a Nevada miner, Herman Reischke, and an Ohio schoolteacher, Alvena Kroegel. Jeanne did a great job providing a back story for both of their lives, providing details on thier 2-yar romance, and describing the lives of a mining/shop keeping family in Central Nevada.
The Friends greatly appreciate Jeanne spending some time with us and revealing fantastic tidbits about life in Nevada 100-120 years ago. Thank you Jeanne!!