The April 20 open house brought several people who displayed their hobbies and collections. The first meeting was well attended by the local veterans and families as we listened to the story told by Mary Helm who is working on a documentary on Woodrow Keeble. She told of her research at the Pentagon on how the battles are cataloged minute by minute. Several have researched the files for information. There is a garment and covering for a staff that belong to Mr. Keeble on display.
There are several artifacts on display of servicemen who served in our nation’s wars. A diary from the Civil war is interesting as it tells of the magnitude of men who lost their lives and how little they had for protection.
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What did the families of service men do for the war efforts? There were flags with a star for each serviceman who was serving from that family to hang in their windows.
There are War Ration books with stamps and tokens they used to purchase a limited amount of sugar, rubber tires and gasoline. School children collected metal and farmers tore apart unused machinery and sold as scrap iron for the war efforts. This effort caused the demise of many early steam tractors.
The red poppy is a symbol used in the poem, “In Flanders Field” by John McCrae where many were buried during the war in Europe. Today artificial poppies are sold to help disabled veterans. At one time the poem was memorized and required for literature class.
Decoration Day or Memorial Day as we now know it was originally designed as a day of remembrance for those who died in service to our nation. The traditional Memorial Day was May 30 and then changed to the last weekend in May. Locally the military service clubs hold services at cemeteries throughout the county. For others it is just a day off and the beginning of summer season.
School children anticipate the last month of school when they take field trips. Several schools have made appointments to visit the museum and the country school. They love the stories of all eight grades in one room with one teacher.
The next meeting at the museum will be May 19 at 2 p.m. when Shavonne Wilkie of the Circle of Nations School will speak.
The community is invited to attend.
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