West Point Volunteer Fire Department
We mentioned in the last newsletter that the WP Volunteer Fire Department is going to donate the fire bell and the pumper to the Historical Society. Here is an update regarding our plans. We are now getting quotes to build a bell stand to place on the right side of the museum. We hope to have this done soon. The pumper will have to wait until we can raise the funds and rebuild the shed in back of the museum so that it can hold and display the pumper. Stay tuned.
Historic Markers
We will continue to install historic markers around our town like this one at the site of the home of Beverly Allen as well as the first Beverly Allen School. Last year we installed five markers and our plans are to install 6 or 7 during 2023.
2023 Board of Directors for Historical Society
During a recent Board Meeting, the officers and board members for 2023 were voted and approved as follows: Edwin Malechek, President; Sandra Willis, Vice President; Terry Hall, Vice President and Treasurer; Levi Jones, Secretary. The other board members are Debra Ball, Ty Bland, Jill Dalton, Sam Drewry, Karena Funkhouser, Richard Hosfield, John Kruger, Donald O’Connor, Dale Seward, Jim Vadas, and Avie Williams. Joanne Wright is our administrative assistant and much more. We thank our board members for all of their time and effort.
Tales of Old West Point
We have emailed three additional chapters of Untold Tales of Old West Point by Bill Palmer. Did you get your copy? If not, it is because you are not a member of HSWP. Become a member and we will send you the three new chapters plus others as Bill publishes them.
We Want You!
We are looking for volunteers. If you like history or if you like West Point, that is all that is needed. We would like to open our museum for more hours on the weekend and we need someone to be there to greet the visitors. So if you can spare a couple of hours, please contact us.
History Tidbit
This is a flyer from 1898 announcing a big event in West Point at Beach Park and the Terminal Hotel. Wouldn’t it be great to go back in time and attend a West Point event like this?
2023 Museum Plans
In addition to adding the fire bell display at the museum, we have other plans for the year also. We have already started renovation of the “garage shed” pictured on the left. This area will be used for additional archive storage and will connect to our existing storage. The big plans, however, are to demolish the shed in the right picture and build a new exhibit area for the fire pumper, the old Chelsea Plantation truck as well as some surprise items. We will have to raise some money to make this happen. We will be sending out additional information soon but we would certainly welcome your donation to this project.
Guidestar/Candid
Speaking of donations. HSWP is proud to announce that we have been awarded the Gold Seal for 2023 from Guidestar/Candid. They are the “go-to” source for information on non-profit organizations. The Gold Seal means we are transparent about who we are and what we do but more importantly that we are a good place for donors to support financially.
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