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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
History
from 1A
mill, where Phelps worked.
“I worked the six-foot band
saw in the mill,” Phelps said, a job
he did for 20 years.
When the facility closed down,
Phelps was able to obtain that
piece of metal, which ended up in
the museum.
Phelps helped put the display
together, writing out his family’s
story to accompany the pictures.
It not only shows the story of
his family, but the story of the
Siuslaw — an industry of logging
that passed through the genera-
tions, bringing us to where we are
today.
That, Phelps believes, is the
power of the museum.
“One of the main reasons
(Siuslaw Pioneer Museum) is
important is that it allows children
to know the history, not just of
their own area, but the history of
the pioneers,” Phelps said. “They
can understand where their roots
came from, and what their fami-
lies, several generation back, went
through to establish themselves in
a new place. If you can figure out
what happened then, then you can
figure out where you’re going.”
To Phelps, it’s that direct line
from the past that informs the
decisions we make in the future.
“You study the history closely,
and you’ll see mistakes that were
made,” Phelps explained. “They
were honest mistakes. You proba-
bly wouldn’t do things that way
today. I’m a true believer that
when we go forward, we look
back. We look at the good and the
bad of the past so we can figure
out the future.”
Phelps has used those lessons
from history as a guiding path in
all the accomplishments he’s done
in the community.
At 82 years old, he’s still work-
ing. He’s a real estate broker for
Berkshire Hathaway, his walls
adorned with pictures of the
Siuslaw region, both past and
present.
He helped raise Florence from
a rough and tumble town to the
thriving retirement and cultural
community it has become today,
becoming a city councilor and
first citizen along the way.
“I started thinking about slow-
ing down a little bit,” Phelps said
of why he’s retiring from the
museum presidency. “I didn’t
want to slow down unless the time
was right.”
The right time occurred when
he looked at the current makeup
of the board of trustees.
“I’ve been trying to recruit
good members for quite some
time,” he said. “It’s really a strong
board now. They’re all strong
thinkers.”
Former Siuslaw Public Library
Director Steve Skidmore is taking
over for Phelps, who had spent
the last 13 years building the
museum up from its humble
beginnings to the immaculate col-
lection it is today.
Phelps’ history with the muse-
um goes back to the early days of
the museum, before its current
home in Historic Old Town, when
it was located in the small
Lutheran Church just south of
Florence’s historic Siuslaw River
Bridge.
“They made a museum of it, a
very nice museum, but it wasn’t
large enough,” he said. “Over
time, people recognized it didn’t
get the visitorship it should. It
wouldn’t sustain itself. The
tourists, especially, once they
SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO
passed the bridge, they’re heading
for the next town south.”
So, when the old schoolhouse
in Historic Old Town became
available, Phelps jumped at the
chance to get it.
“I called an emergency board
meeting to see how long we could
tie up the sale of the school to give
us time to raise money to buy it,”
Phelps said. “The school’s owners
asked for $910,000. For a small
board like us, that was a big
chunk. We were actually $20,000
in debt. I had that meeting with
the owners and managed to come
away with a six-month contract.
One silver dollar was the down
payment.
“They accepted it because of
what we wanted to do with it,” he
continued. “I said we wanted to
preserve it. It’s the perfect place
for the museum, we just need time
to figure out how to do it. And
they did.”
From there, Phelps worked
diligently to raise funds for the
new museum. He went to the
Western
Lane
Community
Foundation and asked for an
unheard of $250,000 for a down
payment on the school. “They’ve
never given anybody more than
$20,000,” Phelps said.
The Foundation ended up giv-
ing the museum $200,000 that
would be paid out in $20,000
increments over 20 years. That
would go toward the monthly
rent.
He then partnered with Siuslaw
Bank, Oregon Pacific Bank and
Davidson Industries to come up
with the rest of the down pay-
ment. That, along with the sale of
the original building and the mul-
tiple fundraisers he did, helped
pay for the building as well as the
exhibits and technology that
would fill the museum.
That kind of partnership and
community determination speaks
to what Phelps modestly believes
is the ultimate job of a board pres-
ident; It’s not the leadership he
provides, but the work that an
entire community does to bring a
place like the museum together.
“I’m proud we all worked
together,” he said “It’s not just one
person who made it what it is
today. This doesn’t happen by
yourself, but through a team that
works together.”
The proof of this, he says, is
shown through the volunteer
hours that are put into the muse-
um on a weekly basis.
“We’re open more than any
other museum on the coast,”
Phelps said. “We’re open seven
days a week during the summer,
and six days during the off season.
The time and care people put into
this project is extraordinary.”
As to the future of the museum,
Phelps hopes it continues to be a
gathering place for the communi-
ty to learn, and remember.
“I want it to keep being a place
the town can be proud of, where
school children can come in and
see how things used to be,” he
said. “When they smile about it,
I’m happy.”
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