May 1, 2009                                                                 

            Enclosed with our letter this month are two calendars.  One is for May, the other for June.  We are hoping this makes it lot more convenient for you all. 

Jodi and Cathy are doing a fantastic job!  Thank you all for helping them fill the calendar.  If you see a day you could fill for us, please do.  It makes my day to look at the calendar in the morning and see that I have a docent for the day!!

            So what would I do if it weren’t for my volunteers.  Cry a lot, believe me. The events committee has made preparations for a tea for “The Red Hats” on May 2^nd as well as a silver book signing tea the same day.  The book is “B Street and Beyond”.  Some of the authors of this fun little memoir are coming to town for a reunion at the U of I.  We sell it in our museum gift shop. 

            The events committee is also working on our Victorian Tea to be held May 9^th.  Tables and chairs have been rounded up, as well as linens, china, and all manner of “tea stuff”.  It was a very fun event last year, and we see no reason for it not to be even more fun this year!  The Tea is from 2:00 until 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, May 9, at the Mansion.  The price is $15.00 per guest or a table of four for $50.00.  It includes courses of sandwiches, breads, cookies, and sweets served with the tea.  We have been encouraging guests to wear costumes, pearls, hats, and gloves.  We have put in an exhibit of quilts into the green room (THANK YOU, Alice DeShazer, Gary Grove, and Mari Wetter.)  Karen Hagen has graciously loaned us a quilt she made of a locomotive to be the “centerpiece” of that little exhibit.  All the others are from our collection.  Some of the hats from our collection are being shown in the two exhibit cases in the children’s bedroom.  We have some swell stuff. 

            The events committee is also working on the Idaho Association of Museums workshop.  The takes place on Saturday, May 16^th from 8:00 A.M. until 4:30 P.M.  the workshop will cover “Practical Solutions for Small Budgets and Hard Times”.  Fred Walters talking about historic properties and Diana Hobart Dicus speaking about conservation will be the presenters.  It is an honor for us to be hosting this year’s workshop conference.  It is a change from past years in that in the past there has been one statewide meeting. This year there are three workshops around the state.  One is held in Idaho Falls, another in Payette, and ours here in Moscow.  There will be a tour of our facilities during the meeting.  We are excited to show off our work in the basement.  It has come a long way.  There we go again..volunteers… Harriot and Lynne McCreight still going and Jean keeping them in line.  Barb Coyner has been doing some work on textiles.  Cathy Willmes has done some work on the card cataloge.  It is always fun to meet with the other museums and historical societies in the state and compare notes.

            Guess what?  May 1^st we begin staying open until 5 PM.   If you have a scheduling issue, just let us know.  We are flexible.