Paul White sharing his stories and local memorabilia
Churdan history will be the focus of a program and tour of a private museum on Friday, May 2, when the Greene County Historical Society meets in that community.
Lunch will be a traditional roast beef dinner for $8, served at 12 noon at the Churdan United Methodist Church, with a presentation afterward by the Paton-Churdan elementary school children.
That will be followed at 1 pm at the church with a talk by Paul White of Churdan, who serves on the Historical Society’s board of directors. In that program, which is free and open to the public, White will give a brief history of the Churdan community, and talk about how he started his collection of Churdan memorabilia.
He has that displayed in a historic building on the north side of Main Street in Churdan, just west of the public library. That wood-frame building is the last of the original wood buildings that were in the Churdan business district.
It has become a perfect home for White’s unusual collection. “I started out 35 to 40 years ago, just as a hobby, buying any advertising I could find that had ‘Churdan’ on it,” White said. “I’ve probably got 3,000 pieces by now.”
He is retired now from a career that included business school, then selling supplies for barber and beauty shops, his own electrical business, then operating the water plants in Churdan, in Lohrville and at a county home. Plus he is now in his 51st year as a school bus driver for the Paton-Churdan schools.
White will have his museum open free to the public beginning at 11 am before the Friday Historical Society meeting. Then he will re-open it about 2 pm after the luncheon, program and business meeting. Also, the Paton-Churdan school will be open to visitors during the day and principal Annie Smith will provide tours.
Lunch reservations should be phoned to the Society’s “community contacts” by Wednesday, April 30, at 4:30 pm. Those contacts are Liz Guess, Churdan, 515-389-3160; Helen Eason, Scranton, at 712-652-3878; Betty Griffith, Grand Junction, 515-738-5767; Marilynn Hoskinson, Jefferson, 515-386-3490; Virginia Carlson, Paton, 515-386-2401; Dot Lawton, Cooper, at 515-386-4585, and Mary Weaver, Rippey, 515-436-7679.
At the business meeting, Ces Brunow, president of the Historical Society, along with executive director Roger Aegerter, will provide an update of recent and upcoming activities of the Society, its museum in Jefferson and the building at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
Memberships for 2014 in the Society ($20 for family, $15 for individuals) may be purchased during the Churdan meeting, or anytime at the museum in Jefferson.
Also at the Churdan church, there will be videotaping in the late morning of people who want to tell their favorite stories in the continuing “Growing Up Greene” oral history series. The special topic for this taping will be stories of May Day celebrations or Mother’s Day reflections. Those videos will be shared later at the museum and on the Historical Society’s Facebook page and Internet site. You can also now make appointments to videotape stories at the museum in Jefferson on Wednesday afternoons.
Normal summer open hours will begin on Saturday morning, May 3. The museum will be open on Saturdays from 9 am to 12 noon and Wednesdays from 1 to 5 pm thru September, or by appointment at 515-386-8544.
That means it’s also time for “spring cleaning” at the museum, and the Historical Society members could use volunteer help with that. A cleaning session will be held Wednesday, April 30, from 1 to 5 pm. “Those days will include dusting, washing windows and glass display cases, redoing labels, and vacuuming the exhibit spaces,” said Brunow. “There will be coffee and goodies, and more hands make easier work!”
