Library features Rader's presidential plate collection

The Havre-Hill County Library will be putting a display of presidential plates front-and-center to honor the memory of Gail and Bill Rader, long-time supporters of the library and the local community as a whole who donated the collection to the library a few years ago.

Library Director Rachel Rawn said they wanted to put the plates on display for the Friends of the Library Pie Social coming up on Valentine's Day from noon to 4 p.m.

Library Foundation Chair Bonnie Williamson, who was the director of the library for three decades before Rawn, said she knew the Rader family for practically her entire life and they were staunch supporters of the library and the community.

"I felt the impact of the Raders for all 30 of those years," Williamson said.

She said she first met Bill Rader 68 years ago when she was 8 years old and in need of a dentist, with Rader having recently taken over a local practice in town.

She said Rader hunted on her family's ranch for years and she became friends with his wife Gail when she was older, finding they were very like-minded.

Bill Rader served on the library's board for 10 years and spent years on the Northern Montana College, now Montana State University-Northern, Foundation board, an organization the couple was also a huge supporter of.

When the library's foundation was formed he also served on its board, including as chair for many years as well.

Williamson said the couple made the promotion of literacy and education a goal of theirs and throughout their lives donated an incredible amount of time and resources to organizations like the library and they deserve recognition for all of that.

"They were always there," she said, "Heart and soul."

Bill Rader died in 2012 and Gail Rader died in October of last year.

Williamson said they'd received the plate collection from Gail five or six years ago, but the library has limited space, so they haven't really put them front and center before.

However, she said, with Gail Rader's death last year, it seemed appropriate to show the collection off more prominently, at least until the foundation's annual meeting in April.

"It's a pretty special collection," she said.

Williamson said the first ladies of various presidential administrations had a tradition of commissioning special plates and dinner ware sets for state functions and the items have since become historically valuable, with the Rader's collection featuring pieces from all the way back to the first first lady Martha Washington.

Rawn said she didn't know the Raders personally, but the couple used the library often, and their contributions to it, financial and otherwise, are easy to see, and they've done a lot of good.

She said the upcoming pie social is a good opportunity for people to see the plate collection, but it's also great for people looking to support the library and have some great homemade pie.

This will be the first pie social the library has had since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in early 2020, and Rawn said it's great to be back doing it again.

She said they had sales of whole pies for the past few years, and they've been incredibly successful, selling out in under an hour, but it will be good to have the social back, as it is a great opportunity to meet people she doesn't see very often the rest of the year.

Rawn said pie will be $5 a slice and will include ice cream and coffee or punch, with whole pies going on sale after 3 p.m., assuming there are any left.