Museum Board announces return of Hands On History

The H. Earl Clack Museum Board, in addition to discussing other business, announced during its monthly meeting Monday evening the return of Hands On History Saturday, April 29, at the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, an event that hasn't been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Foundation Board President Elaine Morse said the event, which in previous years has included as many as 30 individual events, is an opportunity for young people to learn about history by looking at how things were made years ago.

Morse said that, in the past, they've had events showing how things like butter and paper dolls were made in an age before modern technology, and it will be good to have the event back after so many years away.

She said they decided to have the event at the club this year, in part, because the space they offer already has tables and chairs as well as ample room for all the events, and it is being offered to them at half price due to the museum being a non-profit institution.

She said the foundation is working on fliers to go out to possible sponsors for the event and looking for volunteers to help run the events.

In the past, Morse said, they used to rely on ticket sales, with each ticket being good for one specific event, and a set of four usually costing around a dollar.

She said they tried to make that model as affordable as possible.

However, she said, they started relying on sponsors, which has allowed them to offer many events for free and proven a much more financially viable route for the event.

Morse said they are planning to run the events from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. because going longer than that tends to make it harder to find volunteers.

During the meeting, Morse also provided updates on a number of projects going on to improve the Havre History Center's new building.

She said some work on the windows can't be completed until the weather breaks, but they've made a lot of progress on the back rooms, having completed installation of new flooring and drywall, and painting it all.

She said they are waiting on a company to come in and install a drop ceiling.

Morse said the project looks like it won't cost much more than the materials required to do it, but she's not sure when it will get done.

She said work on the building's plumbing has also been completed.

She also said the foundation approved the purchase of PastPerfect software for managing the museum's collections.

During the meeting, board members also discussed possibly accepting the donation of an 1800s-era desk that could be used for displaying items in the museum.

Board members agreed that since it was not a Hill County artifact that the desk itself can't be a display item and they will need to get specific dimensions of the time to make sure they have the space to properly make use of it.

Morse and Board Chair David Sageser also discussed the possibility of installing a mirror under the museum's piano, so that people can look at the inner workings of it more easily.

Morse said she has a mirror that might suit that purpose and Sageser said they should get working on a frame to hold said mirror.

Board member Vickie Clouse also presented some new material for the museum to supplement their exhibit on the town's old telephone system, including a photo of an operator.

The board also briefly discussed the possibility of making more defined hours for tours at the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump, which members seemed to like the idea of, and of getting more volunteers to work at the museum.

Members also discussed a few people who had expressed an interest in becoming board members, as well as the upcoming meeting of a Montana Dinosaur Trail meeting April 22 in Chinook.

Board Member Lela Patera said the meetings usually have really interesting guest speakers so it would be worth it for board members to attend.

The board also discussed a request from Museum Manager Emily Mayer to be paid for a day that she would have worked had a large snow berm not blocked her entry to the museum that day.

Board members briefly discussed whether to pay her for a normal day or to treat it as a vacation day, but determined that the issue would be better to handle as a private personnel issue and discussed in executive session, which they held after the meeting.

Mayer officially announced her resignation from her position earlier this month in a letter to the Hill County Commission which said her own business, Havre Historic Tours and More, recently received a substantial grant and she will not be able to fulfill the requirements of the grant and serve the museum with the devotion it deserves.

The matter of finding a new manager was not discussed at Monday evening's meeting.