Page 9
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Dennis Strayer, acting president of the Kerbyville Museum board of directors, with
the historic Stith-Naucke house (left) and the entrance to the museum (right).
(Photo by Christina Hill)
SMOKEJUMPER BASE REVISITED -- Roger Brandt, an Illinois Valley history buff in-
terested in the background and historical value of the former Siskiyou Smokejumper
Base at the Illinois Valley Airport, led a tour Saturday, July 2. Brandt is working with
the I.V. Airport Advisory Board. The parachute loft, (rear) is said to be the oldest
such structure remaining in the Western United States. (Photo by Dale Sandberg)
Kerbyville Museum provides historical
Glenn Morrison
perspective of valley, surroundings
By CHRISTINA HILL
Correspondent
It’s not uncommon to
hear people say, “Time is
flying by” after they’ve had
a busy week.
However, instead of
having time pass them by,
visitors to Kerbyville Mu-
seum History Center are
taken back in time.
Since inception in the
late 1950s, the collection of
historical artifacts at the mu-
seum has grown immensely.
Toys, cameras, clothing,
sewing machines, musical
instruments and mining,
logging and transportation
equipment are among the
various items displayed.
“We also have a wild-
life display diorama that
contains a lot of native ani-
mals in the area, such as
black bear, gray fox and
geese,” said Dennis Strayer,
president of the museum
board for the past two years.
“A local taxidermist
prepared many of the animal
donations, and several
groups volunteered skills
and donated materials to
complete the project from
1999 to 2000,” said Strayer
The museum also fea-
tures a military exhibit.
“Because I’m a Viet-
nam veteran, I took on the
task of arranging the mili-
tary exhibit,” said Strayer.
“The collection spans from
the Revolutionary War to
the first Gulf War. I donated
my combat jacket, and an-
other Vietnam veteran do-
nated her nurse outfit,”
Strayer said.
In addition, there is an
old barn and a blacksmith’s
shop behind the museum.
And, next door to the mu-
seum is the historic Naucke
House.
“The Nauckes were
locals,” said Strayer, “and
now their house is part of
the museum, and it’s filled
with a lot of things relating
to that time period; kitchen
items, furniture, an old or-
gan and piano, a doll collec-
tion. It’s fully furnished with
items from that era,” Strayer
explained.
During 2003, the mu-
seum board partnered with
the Sourdough Chapter of
the Horsemen’s Club of
America. This group then
took on a year-long task of
renovating the barn and
blacksmith’s shop.
Said Strayer, “Now
people can see how the
blacksmith’s shop would
have looked back then.
There’s also an old buggy in
the barn and old saddles.”
Now one of the bigger
projects coming up is resto-
ration of the one-room log-
built Grimmett Schoolhouse
on the museum grounds.
According to Strayer,
the schoolhouse used to sit
on the Grimmett Family
Farm and was used from
about 1890 to 1910. A
school teacher would live
with one of the farm fami-
lies and would get to school
early to stoke up the stove
and prepare for the day.
“What we’re hoping to
do by the reconstruction is
to give children today that
experience to attend school,
where everyone’s together
in a single room regardless
of age,” said Strayer. “It’s
more of a historical learning
experience that not too
many places are providing
anymore.
“Two summers ago, we
had a lady visit who was
writing a book documenting
one-room school houses
remaining, and she told us
that ours is one of only four
or six remaining in the
Western United States.”
Strayer said that permits
are pending to get started on
the reconstruction. Money,
of course, is also an issue.
“We’ve had several
matching grant donations
from Grimmett Family
members, but there’s still a
lot more that needs to be
raised,” said Strayer. “We
are going to try and get the
schoolhouse as much fin-
ished by the end of the sum-
mer, and what we don’t fin-
ish, we'’ll weatherize and
finish by next spring or
summer,” he said.
While the museum
holds a lot of history inside
and out, it also has quite a
history of its own.
“Clear back in 1958 or
‘59, the Illinois Valley Fed-
erated Women’s Club
started the museum,” said
Strayer. “Originally, it was
just the Naucke House,
which they operated as the
museum for a few years.
“Then in the early ‘60s,
they were able to get the
current building built. They
then moved the Grimmett
School there in the ‘60s,
and the miner’s cabin was
found on national forest
land, so that was moved by
the Navy Construction Bat-
talion people in the 1980s,”
Strayer explained.
The museum remained
under the operation of the
Women’s Club until the
early ‘90'’s when the county
took over and ran it for
about half a decade. In
1998, Strayer and other
locals formed a 501 c3 non-
profit group to run the mu-
seum and have been running
it every since.
And, according to
Strayer, visitation has been
on the rise.
“I don’t have the stats
for last year,” he said, “but I
know that 2003 was a good
year. We had between 2,000
and 3,000 adults stop by and
several hundred children.
We also have an even mix
of local and out-of-state
travelers,” Strayer said.
Museum hours are
Mondays, Tuesdays and
Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m., and Sundays from
noon to 3 p.m.
“We aren’t open very
many hours, Strayer said,
“because we don’t have
enough people to fill in.
We’re always looking for
volunteers.”
Strayer, who works full-
time at the Illinois Valley
Visitor Center, spends his
weekends volunteering his
time at the museum.
The cost of visiting the
museum is $5 for adults, $1
for children ages 6 through
12. Children 5 and younger
are free. An annual family
membership, which includes
unlimited visitations, is
available for $20.
For more information,
phone 592-5252.
Unit 70 Auxiliary
earns top awards
By TINA
HAEMMERLEIN
For Glenn Morrison
Unit 70 American Legion
Auxiliary the 2004-2005
year has come to an end
with many wonderful
memories, and the start of a
new 2005-2006 year has
begun with big plans ahead.
June was busy with in-
stallation of new officers for
our unit. Our young women
from Illinois Valley went to
Girls State for a week in
Salem. All had a grand time
and learned much.
(Continued on page 16)
CAVE JUNCTION
ART WALK
FRIDAY, JULY 8TH • 5 - 8 P.M.
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Nature Scenes & Portraits in Oil
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Woodburning
Sponsored in part by Evergreen Federal Bank • Art Walk Logo courtesy of IVCanDo
