by John Dowd
The Victor Heritage Museum is open for the summer and the hard-working volunteers are excited to showcase what many of them believe to be their best display yet.
They opened Memorial Day and this year, the theme is twofold. The first part of the theme is “the USA,” celebrating 250 years of the nation. The second, which they are most excited about, is the youth of the area. The group scoured the area and their collection to find memorabilia, equipment, clothing, photographs and much more, all to showcase valley young people of history.
In fact, many of the volunteers themselves are in those photographs. For a special part of the display, the museum worked with Victor School’s eighth grade history class. The students interviewed several elderly Victor natives.
The museum works with youth from the school in other capacities as well. According to Nancy Guardado, a new volunteer to the group who started helping with the landscaping around the building, the local youth are very involved with the museum. She often works with youth from the school that come out to volunteer with her on the grounds.
During the school interview project, the interviewees had a chance to see the questions prior to the interview to help them prepare good answers. The recorded interviews are available at the library, by access from QR codes scattered on displays in the museum. The QR codes accompany photo boards of these individuals.
According to the interviewees, they were surprised at how good the questions were. These thoughts were voiced by a couple of the museum volunteers who were interviewed.
Joanne Hook and Suzanne Tout found the experience fascinating and wonderful, looking back on their time and memories of the area. They also enjoyed comparing the youth of the day to their own youth.
“It was an educational thing for me as well,” said Hosko. She looked back and said there was a lot they grew up with that many young people could not imagine today. For one, they did not have indoor plumbing in those days and there was not any power until several years after she was born.
The youth of the area display will include pictures of the original school. Tout and Hosko spoke on the tearing down of the building which happened while they were in school. Hosko said the staff put all the books in the bleachers as the different rooms were demolished. Hosko said it was her last year there and the project was part of a levy that was passed to build a new school.
Mari Nordenstrom, a museum volunteer, spoke of her time growing up in the area. She traveled a lot as a youth, but they always found their way back to Victor. She grew to love this community. Her father was always moving around for work, which she said was another thing many young people of today may not be able to relate to.
The museum includes displays of old fair ribbons from 1912 and the 1920s, school uniforms, 4H history, boy scouts, rainbow girls and much more. There is also a cut-out fish mural, made by Victor School’s Jennifer Ogden’s class.
According to Hosko, “People have put a lot of effort into this. It’s a beautiful display,” and the best they may have ever done, she and other volunteers feel. “They are missing something really great here if they don’t stop in.”
Marylee Bailey, another volunteer, echoed these comments, saying, “It’s pretty miraculous for this little community to have a museum and a group that wants to show off this town.”
Tout added to this, saying the volunteers are an amazing group of people. “I enjoy working here with all these people,” said Tout. Many of the volunteers have been involved with the museum for a very long time. In fact, Judy Thornbrugh, another volunteer, spoke of the picture of her mother-in-law on the wall, who was also the one who initiated the museum.
The volunteers also mentioned how a lot of the important information visitors can learn comes from the volunteers themselves. Janet Beer described this, saying, “History is very important here, whether you’re new or you’ve lived here for a long time.” For her, this history that comes from the stories people tell, is history a person cannot find in a book. It also, for her at least, helps find “a deeper appreciation for the area you call home.”
The museum volunteers are excited for the summer. They wanted to comment on the ice cream social event they do. This year, it will take place in Victor Park. It will take place on Aug. 30, the last Sunday in August. According to Tout, the Bitterroot Band will be playing, Out West Wagons will be doing tours around town and there will be plenty of homemade ice cream. They recommend visitors bring lawn chairs.
The Victor Heritage Museum is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. They are closed Sunday and Monday. They close for the son Sep. 7. They will only open again during their chocolate tasting event and Victor home coming. For more information, interested parties can contact the museum by calling (406) 642-3997.
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