You Are Invited To Help Make History Happen
Monday, September 11th, 2017, the Dorcheat Historical Museum will be hosting
its 9th fundraising event since the 2008 opening of the parish museum. Last
year the fundraiser was a huge success, and raised over $30,000. Many locals attended that know how important
the preservation of our history is to Webster Parish.
Louise Baird Snook, Dorcheat Museum President complimented the following
members; Becky Marvin, Janice Mourad, Cora Lou Robinson, Kay Elzen, Janet
LaBruyere, Ann Harlan, Charlotte Martin, Dianne McGuire, Jo McCullough,
Charlotte Jones, Mary Ann Hamilton, Lucy Adkins, and Rachel Miller. All these ladies are museum board members and
the female driving force behind the gala as well as the museum. Not to be
forgotten, for all their hard word to make everything run smoothly and the man
power behind the museum are fellow board members; Marcel Vandenoord, Richard
Campbell, John Agan, Dr. Roy Phillips, and Ben Baldwin. These event organizers report that the
2017 fundraiser promises to be as exceptional as the past museum events, with
the "Support Local History" theme set for this year.
Guest will be thrilled with the variety of
silent auction items and the great variety of wonderful cuisine. "We are
so fortunate to have the support of so many people from far and wide. We are
pleased with our progress and we know we couldn't do any of it without so many
generous friends and supporters of the museum." stated museum director; Schelley
Brown Francis.
Folk artist, Cora Lou Robinson, is in the process of painting yet another new
original painting for this event. Robinson's paintings have been a highlight at
the past auctions bringing in thousands of dollars each year for the
museum. Everyone is looking forward to seeing her new 2017 piece. This year
the painting was to highlight the “Webster Parish Fair”, after much thought
Cora Lou switched to "4th of July at Turner’s pond". “After Memorial
Day I was so moved by the patriotic things I was seeing that I wanted to paint
what Minden was doing..... to honor those service people that gave the ultimate sacrifice,
stated Mrs. Robinson. For those that know
Mrs. Robinson and her work “God and Country, Family and Friends” are always her
number one themes. Other artists have
also contacted museum board members about donating original works; and museum
members are thrilled with the response to help.
Museum board members commented, “We can’t
have a successful event or a successful museum without the help from so many
local businesses and individuals.” If
you would like to attend or donate a service or item for the 2017 Gala event
contact Schelley Francis at the Dorcheat Museum
318-377-3002 or visit at 116 Pearl Street. Cost to attend is $25 per person. Please mail in response by September 1st,
2017. We will be taking items for
auction until Tuesday, September 5th.
Museum
director Schelley Francis and museum archivist Mrs. Eddie Hammontree had the
following comments to share, “The museum has had hundreds of visitors this past
year from all over the country and overseas as well. The Dorcheat Historical Museum
is a showplace for our area and especially our school children. The museum has even been a place for other
museum officials to gather advice and knowledge for their own museums. Genealogy research has been a big part of
what we have assisted with this year.
We have realized over the past few years
that we needed to take a conservative stance on our spending to insure that the
Dorcheat Museum will continue for many, many years into the future. It took many years of hard work and
perseverance to get to where we are today, we will never jeopardize that
accomplishment. Holding on to what we
have built up since 2007 is the most important thing. We have had many people
to be thankful for in this process.
A museum is a living thing. There will always be new and better ways to
improve what we have now. There will
always be new items and history to unveil.
Every day more and more people are finding out about us.
We still have many dreams for the
future. We are confident that our
expansion project is something that will take place one day. Money was
raised to purchase the building in 2013. A new roof and front were completed,
as well as some items on the inside of this newest building. We will treat this project as we did our
original building project. “We pay as we
go” has always been our motto. Plans for
any renovations and upgrading of this building will take place as money is specifically
raised for this long-term project.
When the Media/Theater room opened several years ago, it gave the museum an
extra advantage of being able to offer the facility to others. We can now rent
this part of the museum out for meetings, reunions and parties, plus we have
the added benefit of the theater system for Power Point or video
presentations."
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sign up for updates visit the website at www.museuminminden.blogspot.com you can also find us on our Facebook group and
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