Board welcomes museum manager, finalizes tea

The board of the H. Earl Clack Museum welcomed a new museum manager, discussed the snow impact at the Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump, finalized plans for its tea fundraiser and shared ideas about future activities during their April meeting Monday.

Museum Board Chair Judi Dritshulas said the board was very happy to welcome Emily Mayer back as the manager of the museum.

Mayer said she was glad to be involved with the museum and she was very excited about recent donations that the museum had received, including a scrapbook made by a nursing student about her 1983 reunion at the former nursing school at Sacred Heart. She added that the donation also included an autobiography written by the student’s mother discussing her daughter’s nursing “training adventures.”

Mayer then talked about the upcoming opening of Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump and how the harsh winter will affect it. Mayer said several groups, including school and homeschooled students, have made reservations for tours of the museum and buffalo jump for the end of April and the beginning of May. The snow has created difficulties in accessing the site, though, Mayer said.

Mayer and the rest of the board members discussed if they will need to cancel the tours or if they should wait to see if Havre gets more snow this week. Board members discussed trying to find a all-terrain vehicle with a snowplow that can help clear the snow from the buffalo jump.

State Archaeologist Pat Rennie will be coming to Wahkpa Chu’gn, Dritshulas said, to check how the heavy snow impacted the condition of the land. H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Foundation Chair Elaine Morse added that Rennie had visited the buffalo jump last year with a group of archaeologists and he has “an invested interest in the buffalo jump.”

Mayer said she had also hung the quilt made by Karen Vosen, which will be raffled during the high tea fundraiser to raise money for the museum, in the window of the Clack Museum. Community members can view the quilt from the window near the entrance of the museum, she said.

Mayer added that she made a display around the quilt consisting of books about the history of Havre that the public can purchase.

Dritshulas showed the final design of the quilt raffle tickets and board members were given tickets to sell to the Havre community. Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 a ticket, she said, or five for $20.

Dritshulas said the raffle tickets can be purchased at Brandons’ Flooring, Clack Museum or from museum board members. The raffle tickets will also be available at the door at the museum tea.

The board members then shared plans for upcoming events and activities for the upcoming season. The members decided on which of them will be on the committee for Living History and briefly made a timeline and discussed activities for “Hands on History.”

Drishulas shared with the board the list of speakers for the Summer Speaker Series. This list includes Keith Doll, Emily Mayer and Jim Magera.