Museum Newsletter - 9 May 2016

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The History Museum will be closed Monday May 30th for Memorial Day.

The Bullitt County Genealogical Society meets the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Government Center, 634 Conestoga Parkway in Shepherdsville. Meeting time is 11:00 p.m. The speaker this month is Deanna O'Daniel, who will be giving us a preview of her new book about Louisville in the 60's and 70's.

The Mount Washington Historical Society meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Lloyd House, Old Highway 31E and Dooley Drive, at 7:00 p.m.

The Spencer County Genealogical meets the 4th Monday of the month at the Spencer County Library, 168 Taylorsville Road. Meeting time is 7:00 p.m.

The Louisville Genealogical Society meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at the LDS Church, 1000 South Hurstbourne Parkway and Linn Station Road, Louisville. Meeting time is 1:00 p.m. On May 24th, Debra Lord Campisano will lead a workshop entitled, "Forward to the past: Techniques for finding the living to discover unknown ancestors."

Display Room 2 - It has been a long time since the ceiling fell in Display Room B, and sent us scurrying for seriously needed storage space. Well, those problems are over. The ceiling has been repaired, additional duct work has been installed for better air flow, and the room received a fresh coat of paint. Although the space has not been available to us for some time, the problem does have a silver lining. We are now in the process of moving in some artifacts from storage that we have not been able to display before, to go along with some of our old standards. The volunteers have been working hard to get things ready. My biggest problem is trying to stay out of the way. I'll let you know when it is open to the public.

Spring Festival - The 37th annual Spring Festival will be held May 13th and 14th in downtown Mt. Washington. This year's theme will be, "Tomorrow's Leaders." Bring the family for carnival rides, car and tractor show, parade, craft booths, along with plenty to eat. Also, beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Mount Washington Middle School, Crossroads Elementary, and the First Baptist Church will be there to entertain you. Y'all come.

Windows 10 - We have successfully migrated (more like dragged kicking and screaming) to the Windows 10 operating system from Windows 7. We did this for a couple of reasons. Obviously we need to keep up with the changes in technology in order to be as efficient as possible in our services to the public. The second reason is simple. At the present time, Windows 10 is free, and as you are probably aware, free can make up for a lot of problems. Billy Worth, son of Dennis Worth, is the "techie" who installed the system. Billy is one of those bright young people who really take to this type thing. Thanks Billy, and if you didn't realize it, we have you on speed dial now.

Bicentennial Coins - Doris Owens, long time Society member and former President, has donated 15 Commemorative Coins from the 1996 Bullitt County Bicentennial. These coins, approximately the size of a silver dollar, are great keep-sakes, and will be a welcomed addition to anyone's collection. The cost is $5.00, so stop by and pick one up.

Family Bible - Many people wonder why genealogists/historians do the things that they do. I was once told by a genealogist that finding a long-lost ancestor through research is like sticking your arm into a slop bucket up to the elbow and finding a shiny dime. While I understand the overstated sentiment, there is a little more to it than that. Let me give you an example. About a month ago a good Samaritan brought in a family bible that a vendor at a local flea market was about to trash (evidently it did not sell). These good folks rescued the bible and donated it to the history museum. Museum volunteer Brenda Rittman, after finding some names on the inside began the search, eventually locating the family named Palmer in Michigan. You can imagine the surprise and joy this family felt from that initial phone call. As it turned out, the family had never seen the Bible, and did not know it even existed. Ms. Palmer called the museum, thanked us again, and even sent us a donation. If the truth were known, Brenda was probably as excited as the family when this heirloom returned to its home. Now you know at least one of the reasons why we do what we do.

Thank you for being a friend of the Bullitt County History Museum. See you next month.

Will Burden, Museum Director