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Volunteers stay busy at Nevada's Bushwhacker Museum
Nevada, Mo. -- The Vernon County Historical Society members are always busy at the Bushwhacker Museum and Old Jail.
Although the official season is over, there are always people hard at work getting the museum ready for the next season.
It isn't just the artifacts and exhibits that require work, but the maintenance of the physical buildings as well.
Stafford Agee is president of the Historical Society Board of Directors and is always on duty as a volunteer. He wears many hats from trimming weeds around the Old Jail to changing light bulbs and re-inventing the lighting situation at the Museum.
Although he is the first to point out he isn't the only volunteer, Agee's hours of dedication are well known among the members of the Historical Society.
His latest task is changing the light bulbs from incandescent to florescent, and adding lighting to the display cases to replace the current track lighting.
"The track lighting is all in the wrong place," Agee explained. "Not only do they use a lot of energy, but the lights bounce back on the glass of the exhibit cases." By putting the lights inside the display cases, both problems will be reduced, and another costly problem will be mitigated as well.
"Using florescent lights to light the display cases will reduce the energy usage and will probably cut our electric bill almost in half," Agee said. "Also, with their longer life, we won't have to change bulbs as often, which is a constant chore now with these track lights."
Another side effect of the inner case lighting will be welcome by visitors. "It will be better for taking photos as there will be no bounce back on the windows," Agee said. "We will eliminate most of our track lighting, eventually. It will take all of this winter and maybe some of next winter to get all the lighting changes completed that we want to do. We are getting the bad ones done right away." At least six older display cases are getting new lighting.
One large exhibit, the Dr. Hornbeck home, will have only a couple of incandescent bulbs replaced now and others will be replaced as time and funding allow.
Most of the display cases have panels covering them and putting the new lights in is time consuming but not too technically challenging.
"The temporary exhibit case has a little problem," Agee said with a chuckle. He pointed out that it has no top panel. "I'm not sure where to put the lights!" He climbed his always available ladder and raised a ceiling panel, "We'll figure it out though," he added with a grin.
Agee isn't the only volunteer who spends many hours at the Museum weekly. "Everyone does something," he said.
"The volunteers who usually do construction are David Maupin, Ed Morris, Gary Marquardt, Tom Runyan and Tom Ramsey. They aren't the only ones of course. Lots of people are needed to keep this place operating. We can always use more volunteers."
The official work days are Tuesday and Wednesday, every week, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Agee added, "All volunteers are welcome! You don't have to be an electrician or have any special skills to help."
Jobs range from dusting and sorting paper work to pouring concrete. "You don't have to be an expert in anything -- there's always something to do," Agee said.
Sometimes it's simply a matter of enough hands to move things from one location to another. Agee explained that one of the new exhibits, a doctor's buggy, took six people to get it from the storage area to the museum.
"The Never Ending Story is a never ending chore," Agee said with a laugh, referring to the three- to five-year plan to finish the large exhibit featuring Vernon County's growth.
"We won't get the Never Ending Story finished this year, although we have finished a lot of the construction." Agee continued, "We need to do interpretations (printed explanations of the artifacts within a display) in the churches and schools exhibits and add artifacts. It all needs changed, moved around, etc." Even if you cannot donate time to the Museum, Agee encourages community participation. "We need artifact donations for the exhibits and money donations for lighting, etc. are always welcomed."
Exhibits being expanded and needing artifacts are The Never Ending Story segment on schools and churches. Military exhibits that need more artifacts are those for the Civil War, Vietnam, the Korean War, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Afghanistan War.
"We don't have a lot of artifacts for those exhibits," Agee explained. "Artifacts can be related papers, uniforms, medals, equipment...anything people want to part with related to those wars."
Stories about individuals who participated in wars are welcome. Agee suggests contacting museum coordinator Terry Ramsey about taping stories on video or audio.
Agee advised, "If you have an artifact you want to donate, talk to Terry or Pat Brophy, Museum Curator. The Museum Committee will determine what to accept or not. We do have some things and really don't have room to duplicate what we already have. We are eager to look at anything you might have."
To become a volunteer or to inquire about making donations, call (417) 667-9602 Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"Come in and help. I think you'll be glad you did," Agee said. "We enjoy what we're doing!"