Hi All,
I just wanted to call your attention to the League’s Facebook page – it provides summaries of many recent League announcements and has been kept up diligently by newish member Meg Engeltner who is volunteering also for the Marysville Historical Society.
It is a public link so feel free to check it any time for more recent news.
And Like US! And bookmark us or put us on your favorites – whatever!
https://www.facebook.com/LeagueSCHO
Karen
The historic 110 year old Stanwood Odd Fellows Hall, now called the Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center was crowded with people last Saturday as members of nearby heritage organizations assembled for the Annual Malstrom Award Luncheon. This year the luncheon was combined with the workshops which made it a much more interesting and rich experience.
Heritage groups brought their books, dvds, calendars, cards, presentations and to share humorous and well as human history. Tables were filled with engaging displays of each organizations’ work. Workshops and meetings were held so we could introduce ourselves to each other, make family and community connections. We often find that we have varying versions of some of the same stories. Its part of the fun to hear the half truths and hearsay as we research and share our photos and findings.
Also new this year were groups from our nearby counties, the Island County Historical Society, The Skagit Valley Genealogical Society
, King County’s 4Culture.org and the Cama Beach State Park – a unique and beautiful historic district.
Each year volunteers of these local groups spend literally thousands of unpaid hours preserving history and historic places, writing, cataloging and researching all to bring some of the fascinating facts of our past to students and the general public. A representative cross section of the work each year is honored at the annual Malstrom Award Luncheon for the most significant project for that year.
This year the Malstrom Award had five projects nominated. The winner’s story is posted here [see previous post below]. There is much difficulty in deciding between them because of the varying nature of the projects. The nominated projects include remembrance events like the Vietnam War with the Monroe Historical Society’s “Vietnam Remembered: Veterans Stories” coordinated by Butch Ohlsen. There was also an excellent publication on the Catholic missionary, the Reverend Father Eugene Casimir Chirouse whose life journey took him from his home country of France to the newly developing Oregon Territory (what became eastern Washington), the Puget Sound region, Tulalip and finally British Columbia. Betty Lou Gaeng included much new information on this important little known figure of the territorial days in Washington. Chirouse is best remembered for his work among the Coast Salish of the Puget Sound region, particularly 21 years at the Tulalip Reservation. The publication can be found online at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wasigs/chirouse.htm
Granite Falls Historical Society undertook a newspaper digitization project beginning in 2010 and completed in 2011.
10,000 pages of Granite Falls newspapers (1922-1970s) were converted into text-searchable electronic files, making it possible to easily retrieve mentions of a particular family, business, or topic, whether in news articles, social columns, editorials, or advertisements. The project was done through a company named Small Town Newspapers and funded in part with two grants from the Snohomish County Heritage Preservation Commission, the remainder of the funds provided by Granite Falls Historical Society. With this model project we are one step closer to digitizing and making accessible the history of this community. The original copies of the newspapers were scanned rather than the microfilm so the quality of the images is very good. Hours of volunteer time went into clarifying copyright and permissions for this and still more are needed for improving keyword and name access to these papers. But a large amount of the work is done.
Another type of nomination is often for exhibits such as those at Heritage Park Museum by the Alderwood Manor Heritage Association. The group recreated rooms in the upper floor of the Wickers building, where the Wicker’s family once lived upstairs of their Alderwood Mercantile (Wickers Store.) There are stories of the Wickers Building and other buildings in Heritage Park, Lynnwood which was near an area that was originally called Alderwood Manor. Alderwood Manor was a unique planned community built by the Puget Mill Company after they logged off more than 6,000 acres prior to the 1920s. 
See their website http://www.alderwood.org/
Many of our Heritage Day discussions focused on how to bring our history to our communities, schools and our cell phones more efficiently. We find interest in history is very high but we are almost all totally volunteer operated so we always need new volunteers who have computer skills, like to research, have a passion for preserving old buildings and places or like to do fund raising projects for good causes. We all welcome new volunteers so if you have an interest, contact the group closest to you and volunteer! (see the side bar on the right for a group that interests you!)
Here’s a short slide show but this time the photos are just a small portion of the thousand words!
For those of you who didn’t attend our Snohomish County Heritage Day and Malstrom Award Luncheon, We’d like to announce that the winner of the Malstrom Award for 2011 projects was the publication “Stuck in the Mud – The history of Warm Beach Washington” written by Penny Hutchison Buse.
Here is a summary of the judging statement by Eric Taylor of 4Culture in King County—-
“In my opinion, this impressive publication merits the Malstrom Award, based on the following criteria:
The book provides new or unique historic information, interpretation or discoveries by presenting a comprehensive history of an often-overlooked area of Snohomish County. It contributes to the preservation or interpretation of Snohomish County history by documenting Warm Beach’s significant events and changes over time, as recorded in the public record, and by adding the author’s personal views as asides throughout the text. By preserving the area’s history in one far-reaching volume, the author has created a valuable reference for future researchers. The author has made use of best museum, research or digital practices as evidenced by the book’s extensive bibliography and conscientious attention to illustration credits. The publication demonstrates an effective collaboration with other community organizations by including relevant material from local, regional, state, and international archives. In addition, the partnership with the Stanwood Area Historical Society contributes to the growth of community heritage resources. The author has made creative use of resources by producing a final manuscript that, in all likelihood, far surpasses the scope of the original project. Penny Hutchison Buse has done an outstanding job of weaving together documents, photographs, and recollections into an easily approachable local history that obviously is a labor of love. “Stuck In The Mud” promises to be a valuable and treasured Snohomish County historical resource for years to come.”
For more about all the other amazing projects, please see
http://www.snocoheritage.org/2012/01/malstrom-award-nominations-for-2011/
Heritage Day Schedule Saturday, March 17th, 2012
Click the above for the two page schedule of the daily events, workshops, awards ceremony and meetings at the first Snohomish County Heritage Day. The Malstrom Award Luncheon will be about 12:15 if you intend to just attend that part of the day. (see the previous post below for the listings of the nominees!)
The Heritage Day Registration 2012 form is also posted if you have not sent in your reservations for lunch or the workshops.
It promises to be an interesting day, bring your displays (or not) and share your experiences with others in the historic preservation business here in Snohomish County.
I’m looking forward to meeting and seeing all you!
Karen Prasse
Current President,
League of Snohomish County Heritage Organizations
Five nominations were received for the 2011 Malstrom Award. Each is an excellent entry and, as always, nominees reflect only a small portion of the worthy projects done last year by our LOSCHO groups. Those nominated break new ground in research and interpretation of Snohomish County history. The order of the projects listed below is random. This year’s judge will be Eric Taylor, Heritage Lead for 4Culture of King County. The award will be announced and presented on March 17th at the Heritage Day & Malstrom Luncheon.
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Project Name: Interpretive Displays at Heritage Park Museum. (Interpretive Museum Displays) Sponsor: Alderwood Manor Heritage Association.
Description: The group recreated rooms in the upper floor of the Wickers building where the Wicker’s family once lived upstairs when it was their Alderwood Mercantile (Wickers Store) The exhibit includes stories of the Wickers Building and other buildings in Heritage Park. Lynnwood is located in an area that was originally called Alderwood Manor. Alderwood Manor was a planned community built by the Puget Mill Company after they logged off more than 6,000 acres prior to the 1920s. The project was a collaboration between AMHA, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society and the City of Lynnwood.
Project Name: Stuck In the Mud, The History of Warm Beach Washington by Penny Hutchison Buse. (a print publication) Sponsor: Stanwood Area Historical Society
Description: Stuck in the Mud: The History of Warm Beach, Washington is the first and only history of Warm Beach and is a substantial contribution to Snohomish County and regional history covering the place’s geography, biology, early explorers, the Port Susan Logging Company, Standard Oil, the building of a small town, the colorful people who made it happen and much more. Penny has done decades of research but Warm Beach is clearly “her place” and she brings much of her personal experience to the work. The book is an excellent read: 363 pages in length and illustrated with black and white and color images, published in 2011 by Penny Hutchison Buse, Fairwinds Writings at mARiTime, printed by Snohomish Publishing Company. While the book itself is a treasure, Penny has taken no money for its sale and has instead offered it as a fundraiser to the Stanwood Area Historical Society and other heritage groups.
Project Name: Chirouse: The Reverend Father Eugene Casimir Chirouse, Pioneer in Oregon and Washington Territories by Betty Gaeng. (a print and online publication). Nomination by Sno-Isle Genealogical Society.
Description: CHIROUSE tells the story of Father Eugene Casimir Chirouse, O.M.I, a Catholic missionary whose life journey took him from his home country of France to the newly developing Oregon Territory (what became eastern Washington), the Puget Sound region, Tulalip and finally British Columbia. He is best remembered for his work among the Coast Salish of the Puget Sound region, particularly 21 years at the Tulalip Reservation. In Betty’s research, she has uncovered and presented information previously unknown to readers. and offers this writing as both a printed book and online publication http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wasigs/chirouse.htm
Project Name: Converting Historic Newspapers into Research Assets. Sponsor: Granite Falls Historical Society. Fred Cruger, Project Director.
Description: Granite Falls Historical Society undertook a newspaper digitization project beginning in 2010 and completed in 2011. 10,000 pages of Granite Falls newspapers (1922-1970s) were converted into text-searchable electronic files, making it possible to easily retrieve mentions of a particular family, business, or topic, whether in news articles, social columns, editorials, or advertisements. The project was done through Small Town Newspapers and funded in part with two grants from the Snohomish County Heritage Preservation Commission, the remainder of the funds provided by Granite Falls Historical Society
Project Name: Monroe 2011 Veterans Day Event and Exhibit. Sponsor: Monroe Historical Society. Project Manager Butch Ohlsen.
Project Description: This year local veteran Butch Ohlsen and the Monroe Historical Society held a special Veterans Day remembrance. The day also marked the opening of the exhibit “Vietnam Remembered: Veterans Stories” in the Monroe Historical Museum, curated by Ohlsen and Chris Bee . Publicity about the event and exhibit, produced by Historical Society member Tami Beaumont , brought a crowd of nearly 400 people who braved a miserable cold, windy, rainy afternoon for the hour-long ceremony, after which about 100 visitors crowded into the museum to see the new exhibit. Vets who had never talked about their service, even to family members, opened up with each other that afternoon. The exhibit brought to light items that soldiers carried home from Vietnam, most of which had been packed away and forgotten for 45 years. Those items were joined by memorabilia saved by the families. Oral histories document survivors’ stories. Notebooks containing photos and documents for each soldier rounded out the exhibit.