Historical society gearing up for spring, summer events

Have you ever taken your out-of-town visitors to see our museums? I have had dear friends visiting for the past few days and one of the first places we toured was the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center in Gardnerville. They were impressed. Your museums are something you can be proud of. Douglas County is rich in history and your museums are working to preserve it.

The Douglas County Historical Society serves our community by continually making improvements at the museums. First, we have extended Student Day to include seniors since our featured speakers seem to be more geared to adult audiences. So starting April 5, seniors as well as students accompanied by an adult will get in free. There will be costumed guides to give tours of the museum and our featured speaker, Ken Gardner, will be talking about cowboy poetry at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m.

Next, we are making Web site updates and improvements. The photo contest application is now on the Web site and can be downloaded at your convenience. The calendar has been updated and can also be downloaded to keep you informed about the multitude of upcoming events. There are several other items of interest on the site, so visit often.

We are looking forward to the May 3 season opening of the Genoa Court House Museum. Air conditioning was installed over the winter months, so summer tours should always be cool and comfortable. There has even been some talk of moving "The Curse of the Hanging Tree" back to the summer months now that the upstairs courtroom will be comfortable. Check here or the Web site for an announcement of play dates.

Other events coming up in Genoa include the Pony Express re-ride on June 19 when we will also be celebrating Snowshoe Thompson's legacy. Just across the street in Mormon Station Historic State Park, our annual Chautauqua in the Park performances will take place June 18 and 19. That is the perfect time to bring a picnic supper and enjoy the Young Chautauquans.

With all these programs, we are always in need of enthusiastic, energetic volunteers. Once you have visited the museums and seen what we have, you will want to join the historical society to help us preserve our local history. And once you join, you have the opportunity to volunteer wherever you would like to help.

We always need volunteers at the main desk in Gardnerville and volunteers willing to give guided tours of both the Gardnerville and Genoa museums. We have so many upcoming events that there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. We have openings for volunteers from chairing events all the way through to clean up afterwards. We are always looking for ideas.

The summer months are when we hold our major fundraisers, so it is now that we need you to consider coming on board to help us out. Upcoming are the Barn Tour, the Art and Wine Festival, the Taste of the Towns, formerly Taste of Gardnerville, to mention just a few. All these events need people to make them successful. Remember, DCHS and its two museums do not receive any regular state or county funding. It's up to our members and volunteers to help us keep our doors open.

If you have any questions about anything mentioned here, please call the Douglas County Historical Society at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center in Gardnerville at 782-2555. Visit our Web site at www.historicnevada.org. And if you have the time, the museum is always looking for interested volunteers.

-- Contact Ellen Caywood at in2my2cats@yahoo.com or at 790-1565.