Ladies of exhibit committee keep museum interesting

This is the last weekend to visit the Genoa Court House Museum this year because it closes for the winter after Sunday. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it. If you have, go by and say so long for the season.

Now that the rush of summer is over, we thought we'd tell you a little more about the ladies who make up the exhibit committee for the Douglas County Historical Society. These are the ladies who keep your museums historically correct yet interesting.

The chairwoman is Irene Marshall. That's more of an honorary title as the committee is all about getting the job done and nothing about who gets the glory. The other members are Betty Cordes, Laurie Hickey and E'Ann Logan. All four of these ladies are longtime Valley residents. They work out of the Gardnerville museum, contributing to the Genoa museum as needed.

Irene Marshall has been active in the museum since its inception. She is more than familiar with the museum building, having attended Douglas High School there and returned later to teach. She has been involved with exhibits for years, starting with the window behind the front desk. Irene's family has been in the area for four generations. Irene and her late sister, Debbie Byers, created the farm board exhibit, now located in the main gallery.

Betty Cordes, originally from Reno, is a member of the Chism Ice Cream family. She married Chris Cordes and moved to a ranch in Centerville. She's one of those multi-faceted, multi-talented ladies who can fix anything, make anything, sew anything, paint anything " you get the idea. If you remember the Cordes family chickens at the Carson Valley Days parade a few years ago, Betty designed the costumes.

E'Ann Logan arrived in Douglas County in 1959 as a young widow with three small children. Not long afterward, she met and married Valley native Glen Logan. Glen and E'Ann were active in the restoration of both the high school as our museum and the Logan Building, the old Carson Valley Hospital, across the street. E'Ann was also instrumental in setting up the animal room exhibit. An accomplished artist, she painted many of the murals in that room.

What can anyone say about Laurie Hickey? She is one of the pillars of the historical society. If it gets done, it's because Laurie has had a hand in it somewhere. Events Laurie heads up include "The Curse of the Hanging Tree," the Haunted Weekend, the fashion show at the Christmas tea and this year's barn tour. Laurie has been invaluable in establishing the permanent exhibits depicting the mustang in Nevada, Kit Carson and the new mural depicting the Road to the Promised Land, Foothill Road and the Emigrant Trail.

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. Remember, DCHS and its two museums, the Gardnerville museum and the Genoa Court House Museum, do not receive any regular state or county funding. It's up to our members and friends to help us keep our doors open.

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