Dear, Supporters of the Dorcheat Historical Museum,
With the upcoming holiday season approaching, we hope
this letter finds you and your family healthy and happy. The old saying “The Times We Are A Changing”
has never been more evident. We have
some changes coming up for 2022! Let me begin
by telling you about the perfect person I have found to help carry on our
mission statement as a docent / and hopefully a future museum Director /
Jessica Gorman of Minden. Jessica first
came to the museum several years ago asking if I minded that she do some work
in the Minden Cemetery as far as cleaning headstones and checking on
things. She is an avid genealogy
researcher and knows so much about Minden’s past history. She has even read all the books that we offer
at the museum! She isn’t 100% sure yet…..
but I am working on her!
One thing the Pandemic has shown us is written in Ecclesiastes 3; For
everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under
heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 a
time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build
up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time
to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast
away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a
time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek,
and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a
time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to
speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time
for war, and a time for peace. We
have lost some wonderful people the past few years due to illness and age…( I feel like I have personally lost so
many of my go-to people when I needed answers about Webster parish history),
some of us have gotten back to our roots with planting gardens and canning food,
we have hunted more wild game so we don’t depend on the supply chain, we have
seen our country and city seem to be chaotic at times and then at others pull
together to stand up for what we know is right and true, we have cleaned out
and gotten rid of excess baggage, we have watched as parts of history have been
destroyed and removed all across our country and Minden, we have not been able to embrace loved
ones and gather as what we deemed NORMAL and we mourned for that feeling of togetherness,
we have been pushed and pulled via the internet to speak out and then just go
and hide away from it all, we are all looking for the time to LOVE and that is
ALL THE TIME. We pray for NO WARS… but
we know those lurk on the horizon. They
say history repeats itself ….we have seen good times and bad. History is not
there for us to change. It is there for
us to learn from. I hope you will
continue to support the museum in every way that you can. I hope that you will continue to help us keep
Webster parish history alive for future generations. That is what a museum is all
about….preserving that history GOOD AND BAD!
Seems so many want a museum and things to do in Webster Parish…. but so
few are willing to support it. We ask
that you not be that person.
For the 2nd year we were not able to do our
fundraiser but did a mail-out instead earlier this year. That mail-out did great…but we are still
short for the year on where we need to be!
We usually take in around $30,000 at our event. This money is what we have always used to operate
from during the year. Not having the
gala two years in a row puts us at an even bigger disadvantage financially as
we move forward for the coming years.
This year I (Schelley Francis) turned 62 and have signed up to receive
my Social Security starting in 2022.
This will put us in a better position to continue forward, by cutting
our overhead. As always, we are very
mindful of how our money is spent. Each
year we like to have enough to move forward without jeopardizing what we
already have in savings. We know many of
you are in the same situation and respect that.
You still have time to make a difference at the museum for 2021 and starting
2022. We will greatly appreciate any
help you can offer financially.
I would like to have an exhibit of
the History Keepers that would include John, Dr. Longino and Mrs.
Campbell. I think, without these three
people, much of our history would be gone forever. I would love to honor them in our building
that needs to be completed. My goal is
to finish that in the next few years, but without donations that exceed our
basic needs that will not be possible.
Remember we are a 501 C3 nonprofit. You can now go online and donate to the museum. www.dorcheatmuseum.com is our new website and makes donating so easy. If you are a business take a look at being highlighted on on sponsor page. For mail in donations please use the following address Dorcheat Museum P.O. Box 1094 Minden, LA 71058.
Sincerely,
Schelley Brown Francis Louise
Baird Snook
Dorcheat Museum Director Dorcheat
Museum Board President
116 Pearl Street
P.O. Box 1094 Minden, LA
71058 Phone#318-377-3002