Museum sets work day at Griggs building

It will be a full day of work Monday at the future home of the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum.

At the monthly meeting of the museum board Monday, board chair Judi Dritshulas said a major work day is planned at the Griggs Printing Building, which the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Foundation purchased for the museum.

Dritshulas said foundation members have been going through the building, which still houses Griggs Printing as well as rental space for Northern Home Essentials and the local band Blind Luck, marking which items need to go and which need to stay.

She said Montana State University-Northern athletes have volunteered to help at the all-day project, and added that anyone who wishes to volunteer is welcome.

The board at previous meetings has discussed the long-term plans for moving the museum into the downtown Havre building, which has housed a number of businesses in the past 90 years or so, including Anderson Wholesale. That business name still is painted on the south side of the building, on the 10 Block of 5th Avenue.

The board at past meetings has discussed how the building will give the opportunity to bring together the museum's collections, some in storage in several areas including the Hill County Courthouse Annex, at the Holiday Village and at Fort Assinniboine. It also will allow permanent displays to be set without having to make another move with the often-fragile items in the collections.

The museum was housed on the fairgrounds for decades, until it was moved to the retired U.S. Courthouse and federal post office in 1996. In the middle of the next decade, it was moved to the west end of the Holiday Village Mall.

In 2012, it moved again, to its current location in the east end of the mall.

Emily Mayer, who operates the High Line Heritage House Museum in Havre, also updated the board on her plans during Montana's "Year of the Woman."

The Montana Historical Society has declared 2014 the "Year of the Woman," to highlight contributions women have made in Montana's history.

Mayer said she will be holding events at her museum, including during Living History in Havre in early June, and wanted to coordinate with the Clack Museum to make certain they do not duplicate displays.

She said during Living History she plans to have an event with tea, showing how different kinds of tea are prepared and "how to make the perfect pot of tea" and serve it. She said that event probably will include abbreviated tours of the museum.