“I would like to acknowledge the people who volunteered at the Maple Valley Historical Society museums this year,” said Dick Peacock, MVHS president, at the annual meeting of recognition. However, his list of public assistants was too lengthy and noteworthy to accomplish the task by simply naming individuals.
Three Maple Valley museums are located in two locations: the old Maple Valley Grade School on SE 216thStreet, and the Gibbon/Mezzavilla Store and Fire Engine Museum, both located at MV Community Center grounds. The year 2018 included the difficult process of moving out of the grade school museum to another location. Thus, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, noting completion of that task, was scheduled in addition to recognition of traditional volunteers.
Peacock’s ‘short list’ of volunteers included 22 family names, “Some of them worked on a weekly basis,” he said. “Others worked on a specific one-time project and everything in between.” They were Dennis and Sherrie Acker, Donna and Michael Brathovde, Bill and Denise Michels, Marilyn and Terry Quinnett, Brendan, Dan, and Elliot Roney, Laura Capili, Tom Dullanty, Larry Johnson, Margaret Laliberte, Joanne Matsumura, Ida Nicholas, Tandra Solvey, D’Ann Tedford and Amy Wolkenhauer; Council Members Dave and Sue Pilgrim, Syd Dawson, Sandy Faul, Amy Kinsella, Dan Nicholas, Dick Peacock, Karin Roney and Barbara Secord. “Without these people we would not be able to continue serving the Greater Maple Valley area,” Peacock noted.
His ‘longer list’ of volunteers included comments, “One Saturday at least 20 people, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, moved nine showcases down three flights of stairs from the museum at the old schoolhouse to the other two museums. Then eight firefighters moved the shelves from the old school to the newly constructed storage facility. A week later,” he said, “three ladies from the same church packed up items from the school office followed by a Saturday of at least 30 people from LDS who moved almost everything from the old school and placed them on the appropriate shelves or cabinets in the storage facility. Sometimes they formed a bucket brigade for the task.” He added that volunteer Bob Soushek used his forklift to bring down the heavy items from the third floor. “I wore myself out that day staying out of everyone’s way,” he laughed (at himself).
Peacock’s praise of thanks was followed by that of Treasurer Dave Pilgrim who was referred to as “project manager” for finding a building location, overseeing land clearing and restoration, and building a new storage facility, that will hold rotating museum displays. “It was a collaboration and partnerships with the Community Center, the city of Maple Valley which funded the project, Rotary, and many local businesses,” Pilgrim said.
Pilgrim also gave a brief background on why the storage building was necessary. In early 2018, Tahoma School District informed MVHS that they had to vacate the third floor of the school. That floor housed the museum. The district, by law, was not allowed to maintain a facility with public money for an outside organization. Building a new museum alongside the two museums already located at MV Community Center would have cost over a million dollars and taken more than the one-year timeline.
“Instead, a storage facility for our collection was deemed feasible. So off to the races we went,” Pilgrim said. His praise immediately turned to Jim Flynn whom he called “Our community rock; if you need something done, call him.” Thus began land clearing by Flynn; assistance from Michael Brathovde; city officials and Lance Ferrel in its planning department; and P’n’D logging. Building had started – the shell, roof, floor followed by Bailey Industries for furnace; Jim Hagen with JR Electric; Brent Rewoldt for sheet rock; and the Rotary for pallet racking.
“My goal was to have this building done in September,” Pilgrim said in addressing January’s audience, while they were surveying their surroundings inside the newly constructed storage unit. “It was completed just two weeks late. The cost of this building was $73,000 with a lot of in-kind donations.” MVHS was recipient of community effort: volunteerism; family time and donations; city hall, staff, and city council; businesses and contractors. The community was active and united in its goal of preserving history.
