The May 12th, 2008 “Night for the Museum” will hold a special place in many hearts, especially those that have rail dust mixed with their blood. Dorcheat Museum’s director; Schelley Brown, announces another special historic venue event. Monday, May 12th, 2008, Mr. Webster Nation another one of Minden’s longtime
citizen’s will be the guest speaker at The Dorcheat Historical Association’s “Night for the Museum”. Don’t miss this exciting and entertaining night of hearing our parish history. This informative night dealing with Webster parish railroading history during the 1940’s era should be another huge success. It has been said about Mr. Nation, “When he talks of "railroading" his voice becomes animated, and then you understand the phrase - "romance of the rails". For 42 years he was the engineer on some of the most prestigious passenger trains, as well as engineer on many freight trains. Webster Nation should have finished high school in 1939, but he stayed over to play football the autumn of 1939, and graduated in January, 1940. He began his career with the L & A Railroad in 1941 and continued until his retirement in 1983. Ms. Brown exclaimed, “I am so excited about this event because the L & A Railroad was so important to our area and so 
many families in Minden were railroad families. I think everyone will enjoy hearing the wonderful stories that Mr. Nation has to tell!”The last two months performances by Mr. Frank Griffith and Marcus Wren were both held to packed houses. These types of events are something the museum wants to offer on a regular basis as entertainment and a living history lesson. These type events will eventually be held in the museum, when the area to be known as the “Children’s Learning Center” is completed. Museum coordinators are again expecting a large turnout, so you may want to bring your lawn chairs again just in case of a shortage of seating!
Mr. Nation will be speaking at Christopher’s located at 615 Main Street in Minden, Louisiana. Refreshments will be provided by Charlotte Martin and sponsored by Ty Pendergrass of Argent Financial. Refreshments will be served at 6:00 P.M. and an opening welcome from Mr. Thad Andress; President of the Dorcheat Historical Association & Museum, Inc. Program will begin at 6:30 with a special gift basket to be given away to a lucky attendee at the end of the evening!
Museum director Schelley Brown stated, “With the help of Phil Demaline, these speaking engagements are being recorded so that we will have a digital record for the museum of all our local history. Our last two DVD’s featuring Mr. Griffith and Mr. Wren are still available for $10. Sound system will again be provided by Durwood Blake allowing everyone the opportunity to not miss a single word. A tour of the museum will be available to everyone following the program. This will give everyone the chance to see the progress that has been taking place in the museum and to be able to hear about the new additions that are in the works. The Museum is changing daily as our opening approaches. It is so far beyond what people expect. It is so impressive and is going to be a huge asset to Webster Parish.”
Don’t miss your chance at hearing some exciting stories of Minden’s past from someone that remembers many important events and people that changed our community and are forever markers in time for Minden. Admission is free of charge and everyone is welcome. For more information on “A Night for the Museum with Mr. Webster Nation” please contact Schelley Brown at 318-423-0192. Reservations not required first come first serve seating.
