Museum Alive!

Transportation projects are rolling at your Boundary County Museum gearing up for the upcoming traveling Smithsonian Exhibit Journey Stories May 28-July 10, 2010. Journey Stories are the narrative accounts of immigrants and migrants and the chronological development and impact of transportation on the peoples of America for four hundred years.

The Boundary County Museum is one of only six sites in Idaho selected by the Idaho Humanities Council to host the exhibit. Boundary County is rich in both people and transportation. Volunteers are preparing programs and exhibits to tell our local stories beginning with Kootenai Traditions, the Kootenai River, Mining, Timber, Railroads, and Agriculture. Four state scholars provided by the Idaho Humanities Council Speakers Bureau will present an oral history workshop, music of early Idaho, the Chinese Railroad workers, as well as the opening program of Journey Stories.

All events will be in the new Boundary County Museum Community Events Center on Main Street at the south end of the museum complex. The recently vacated space provides an expansive venue for Journey Stories programming and events while renovations are completed in the remainder of the building. Watch for programs and events in the local media and the Bonners Ferry Chamber of Commerce web-site. Schedules will be available soon at the museum and other outlets.

The members of the Boundary County Historical Society have increased the Board of Trustees from seven to nine positions and are currently actively recruiting volunteers to fill three positions. The board is an active working group, meeting once a month, with committees and programs as needed. Current human resource needs of the organization include recording secretary, business management, and facilities expertise. If you have an interest in local history and the unique cultural experience the Boundary County Museum provides both the local community and tourists, consider hopping on board as either a board member or volunteer. Current Board of Trustees are Jill Nystrom (president), Mike Sloan (Vice President), Gini Woodward (Secretary), Orin Everhart (Treasurer), Lamar Olsen, and John Standal. Pick up applications at the Museum, Jill's Café or call Carl & Sherrie Hendricks 267-7837 or Lillie Blackwell 267-2775.

For more information about Journey Stories or to participate in programming call Gini Woodward 267-5638. Journey Stories is part of Museum on Main Street (www.museumonmainstreet.org ), a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and The Hearst Foundation.

Journey Stories has been made possible in Idaho by the Idaho Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities "We the People" Program.

The Idaho Humanities Council is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing public understanding and appreciation of literature, history, law, anthropology, and other humanities disciplines. The Council receives its funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and from the generous philanthropy of corporations, foundations, and individuals. For more information, visit the IHC website at www.idahohumanities.org.