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Museum celebrates its new digs
by Mary Byrd Blackwell
The Woodstock Museum will celebrate its grand reopening at 4 p.m. Sept. 16 when Mayor William Moyers will cut the ribbon, officially opening the doors of the museum’s new home at 104 S. Muhlenberg St.
The public is invited to attend the celebration and tour the museum between 4 and 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
After 34 years in the old Woodstock Town Hall building on Court Street and two closed years, the museum has moved to the Marshall house at South Muhlenberg and West Court streets.
The museum had to vacate its former site in 2003 due to structural problems with the building. The move to the new quarters began in March, and doors opened to the public in June.
Museum volunteers packed the inventory for the move, then the town maintenance crew hand carried furnishings, including many heavy glass display cases, to the new site.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to the town of Woodstock,” said Alma Hottle, president of the museum board.
The Woodstock Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from May through September. More info: 459-3455.
Unpacking is ongoing, and displays change often.
“I was looking through the boxes trying to find new things to put out; it’s just amazing what we have stored in here about Woodstock’s past.” Hottle said. “There are more unopened boxes; it’s hard to tell what we won’t find The museum was able to purchase the house in part thanks to a bequest from the late Ruth F. Rhodes. She left her house on West Spring and South Main streets in Woodstock to the museum. The sale of that property generated funds to go toward the new museum building. Rhodes gave several items on display in the museum as well.
Admission to the museum is free, but donations are encouraged to support the facility. Annual and lifetime memberships and the sale of Woodstock history books and other gift store items help fund the museum.
Barbara Kesser, who is in charge of display and records, says the directors will consider donations of objects for display. Storage space is limited, but interesting historical items will be welcome.
“You never know what people have squirreled away,” Kesser said.
Volunteers are also welcome. The docents who sit the museum as well as all the members of the organization are unpaid volunteers.
The group meets the third Thursday of each month except July. The meetings are open to the public.
Often a speaker presents a program. Past speakers came from Belle Grove Plantation, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, and the Shenandoah County Historical Society.
The group has work ahead of them.
“Eventually we will get the garage done, which has a great space for old farm equipment and tools,” Hottle said.
A sleigh and a copper still will be housed there as well.
Their wish list for the next five years includes the addition of clothing and quilt displays, and finishing second-floor exhibits. Ultraviolet film has been purchased for the windows to protect the displays from sunlight, but it has not yet been applied. Removing the 1970s wallpaper is inevitable.
Climate control for the objects as well as the humans will be needed. They hope to have archives available to the public as well.
Long-range goals include being open year-round and a paid staff.
Kesser hopes in time to “have all the amenities a museum should have.”
“It will take a lot of money,” Hottle said, “but I think it will be worth it if we get that to the town and the county.”
She noted they have a long way to go, but she thinks it’s all worthwhile.
“This has been a joy,” she said.
The Woodstock Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from May through September. More info: 459-3455.
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More stories on Shenandoah.com:
 (MASSANUTTEN REGIONAL LIBRARY)
- Yesterday
(Bluemont Concert Series)
- Wednesday Jul 28 2010
(Woodstock Enhancement Committee)
- Wednesday Jul 28 2010
(Virginia Farm Bureau)
- Wednesday Jul 28 2010
(The Warren Sentinel)
- Monday Nov 30 2009
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