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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2019)
Friday, November 8, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3 HISTORY AND HOPS The Lost Art of Nursing guests to the museum year- round by appointment, giv- ing tours for free and selling reproductions of vintage art- work, books, posters, greet- ing cards, and pins. They also celebrate Nurses Week in May and do a drawing for a $1,000 cash scholarship for nursing students who sign up at the museum. The winner — which is selected at random by Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn during a ceremony in May — can use the money for text- books, childcare, new tires for their car, or “whatever they need,” Chenevert said. By KATHERINE LACAZE For Seaside Signal Melodie Chenevert became a museum owner and curator more or less by chance. She started collect- ing nursing memorabilia more than three decades ago, which led to her even- tually opening the Lost Art of Nursing Museum in Tolo- vana Park. “It was an accidental museum,” Chenevert, who retired from nursing after serving more than 50 years, said during her History and Hops presentation at Seaside Brewery on Oct. 31. In honor of Halloween, she showed up for the pre- sentation decked out in an elaborate, handmade Queen of Hearts costume and wove metaphors related to Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass” into her dis- cussion about the healthcare system, her experiences in nursing, and the history of her collection. Embodying characters, she said, has long been one of her methods for increasing the entertainment value of her presentations and workshops, which she has given in 49 states and numerous countries. A lifelong passion Chenevert received her diploma from Method- ist-Kahler School of Nurs- ing in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1963. The members of her tight-knit nursing class still gather to this day, having celebrated their 55th reunion last year. Chenevert also has bach- elor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Washington-Seattle, with a clinical specialty in psychi- atric nursing, and a master’s in journalism from the Uni- versity of Wisconsin-Madi- Katherine Lacaze Planning for the future Melodie Chenevert, a retired registered nurse, author, and public speaker, gives a tour of her Lost Art of Nursing Museum in Tolovana Park. Chenevert opened the museum about seven years ago. Chenevert’s main focus right now is secession plan- ning, which is made more challenging without a board of director, docents, or other partners. Being in her late 70s, she wants to have a plan in place for her wealth of memorabilia to ensure it’s preserved. “This is now my mission, to fi nd a home for it,” she said. There are certain organi- zations — such as the Mayo Clinic — that might be inter- ested in certain pieces of the collection, but she is hesi- tant to split it up and parcel it out. Ideally, her goals are for the collection to stay in the Pacifi c Northwest; to be donated to a university or a nursing organization; to stay primarily intact; and to be on display, not in storage. She’s been looking around and hasn’t yet found the perfect — and sustain- able — home, but she con- tinues to make that a pri- mary objective. One idea is to open an ice cream par- lor that she could decorate with the memorabilia, with the sundaes and other treats named after historic nurses. “Stay tuned,” she said. son. Over the course of her long career, she worked as a staff nurse, play therapist/ child mental health clini- cian, and nursing instructor. She also set up the nursing program at Clatsop Com- munity College in 1982 and published several books on nursing. Now, Chenevert directs a personal com- pany, PRO-NURSE, which provides products and ser- vices designed to increase professional pride and productivity. Her passion for nursing as a vocation spread into her personal life. When visit- ing rummage sales, antique stores, auctions, and other venues over the years, she would ask for any items related to nursing. Slowly, she developed a large col- lection of vintage artwork, pins, books, dolls, music, uniforms, and other memo- rabilia from the past century. “Nursing continues to evolve, hopefully getting brighter and brighter,” she said. “We have a long tra- dition, we’re just part of the passing parade.” While living in Mary- land, people would visit her offi ce and comment on what a nice museum she had, and it gave her an idea. When she moved with her husband Gary, a nuclear physicist, to Cannon Beach in 2012, she worked with the city to establish an actual museum. Even though her property is in a commercial zone, a museum was not a permit- ted use within that zone at the time. Chenevert called her new establishment the Lost Art of Nursing Museum because many of the posters, mag- azine covers, illustrations, advertisements, poems, sheet music, dolls, toys and books have vanished, according to her website. As hospitals and schools of nursing modernized and redecorated, artwork cele- brating nursing traditions and its history wound up in the trash. The Cheneverts admit BUSINESS Directory FLOORING CCB# 205283 Luxury vinyl planks and tile. you walk on our reputation Flooring Installation 3470 Hwy 101 Suite 102 • Gearhart, Oregon 503.739.7577 • carpetcornergearhart.com FLOORING Randall Lee’s 0% FINANCING AVAILABLE Window Treatments, Fabric, Designer Wallpaper, Counter Tops, All Flooring and Miele Vacuums Visit Our Outlet! Randall Lee’s Seaside • 2311 N. 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Occasionally, they will host guest speak- ers, and two sub-groups or clubs, a book club and a knitting/crocheting club, have sprouted from the main social network. ‘A place to go’ United for a cause The group members not only support each other when they’re facing diffi - FREE TASTING cult circumstances, but they also celebrate each other’s successes. When Dailey res- cued a struggling child in the ocean during the sum- mer, she didn’t feel like it was a big deal, believing that despite not being a swim- mer, she did what she had to in the situation. The other Girls in the Hood, however, would not downplay her heroics, prais- ing her for saving the life of a stranger and taking no credit for doing so. They also take advan- tage of opportunities to unite over each other’s passions or shared causes. They’ve gone as a group to sing carols to residents at retirement com- munities during the winter holidays. In the summers of 2015 2016, and 2017, they collectively raised money for the Northwest Parkin- son’s Foundation, and they hosted a boot at the Seaside Farmers Market in Septem- ber 2015 to distribute infor- mation to people with Par- kinson’s disease and their caregivers. “Always on the lookout for additional ways to help women engage more fully in our community, we encour- age new ideas from our par- ticipants,” Sawyer said. DINING on the ( no S cot ch B room) • Laurelwood Compost • Soil Amendments • Planting MacMix • Mulch 503-717-1454 34154 HIGHWAY 26 SEASIDE, OR Laurelwood Far m TIRES/WHEELS DEL’S O.K. 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Cat Sellars remembers spotting the group through the window at the golf club about a year and a half ago and thinking, “I want a group of friends like that.” She was later invited by a member and has since expe- rienced a deep bonding with the other Girls in the Hood. “We come together as a group of women who appreciate each other,” Sel- lars said. “This has been a wonderful situation for me, because I’m meeting peo- ple I never would have met otherwise.” Now, she uses the occa- sion to get dressed up for a special, entertaining night out with her friends. The beauty of the group, she said, is that if any mem- ber was in need, she doubts the others would turn them down. Denise Dailey, another member, agreed the group has seen her through sev- eral diffi cult situations. When she and her husband divorced after a long mar- riage, she landed in Seaside with only her suitcases and her dogs. As she settled in and searched for ways to get acclimated, she found The Girls in the Hood, which plugged her into a support- ive community. “There’s always some- one available to get you through,” she said. When visitors come to the meeting for the fi rst time, Dailey said, it can be a little overwhelming. How- ever, they try to incorporate new people seamlessly so they immediately feel wel- come and included. Sellars agreed, adding, “If you come in and embrace it, the rewards are wonderful.” YAR D D E B R I S D R O P -O F F BEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN! • Repairs • Generator installation & servicing • New construction • Remodels Serving the North Oregon Coast since 1950! 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