|
One thing Reedville Fishermen’s Museum Director Katrina Lawrimore has learned in two years on the job: running a local history museum takes lots of volunteers. So when you ask her about the importance of having seniors volunteer there, she doesn’t mince words. “Without them, we wouldn’t have a museum.”
The Reedville Fishermen’s Museum isn’t the only place you’ll find seniors in abundance. Whether at national attractions like George Washington’s or Robert E. Lee’s birthplace, or ones with a local focus, seniors are the mainstay of volunteer programs at virtually every historical site along the Chesapeake Bay’s western shore.
“Our senior volunteers are always going full speed ahead, doing whatever it takes to make the museum successful,” Lawrimore says. Volunteers run the gift shop, repair the museum’s watercraft, care for buildings and grounds, serve as docents, build exhibits, and even serve as crew aboard the museum’s boats.
Betty Mountjoy, a transplant from Hyattsville, Maryland, has had more than a dozen jobs from fundraising to curating for the Museum’s collection and serving on the Board. Mountjoy began as a docent and found herself fascinated with the region’s maritime heritage and impressed by fellow volunteers. “I am amazed at the quality and expertise of the retirees I work with,” she says enthusiastically.
Camille Bennett, executive director at Irvington’s Historic Christ Church, says seniors bring a sense of commitment and real-world experience to their volunteer work. “They enjoy each other’s company, like dealing with visitors and are eager take on any task that needs doing.” They are also quite willing to share their personal resources and promote the organization to the next generation, keys to sustaining any historical site’s long-term viability.
“I think seniors’ volunteer work is mutually beneficial,” Bennett says. “They certainly are important to the organization. But being able to volunteer lets them feel they are continuing to contribute and provides opportunities to keep their professional and life skills sharp.”
Historic Christ Church benefits from its proximity to Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury, the continuing care community just two miles away. Clark Schumacher, one of several RWC residents who volunteer at the church, is fascinated by the architecture of the building that has been designated one of the 100 most important existing Colonial American structures. “I learn something new every time I go over to the place,” he says.
Schumacher’s neighbor Pam Key helps out with administration. Her husband, Dr. Marcus Key, is involved in historical research. “I’ve been doing research all my life,” says the retired public health service official who spent his career investigating occupational and environmental diseases. He discovered quickly that his skills were easily transferrable. His team just finished mapping out the location for every resident of Christ Church parish between 1730-1750, and now is trying to identify the site of Church Landing, a spot on the upper reaches of Carter’s Creek that may once have provided water access to the church.
Like many seniors, Pennsylvania native Nancy Newlin volunteers at several local historical sites. In addition to working at Historic Christ Church, the former teacher has been on the board at the Steamboat Era Museum in Irvington and now handles a number of jobs there, including management of special events that bring in revenue for the enterprise. The work occasionally spurs her to reverie. “When I’m here I sometimes wish I could turn back the clock and experience the adventure of traveling by steamboat up and down the Bay.”
Ann McClintock, who was born near the old steamboat pier in Weems, volunteers at the Steamboat Era Museum for another reason. Her grandfather, Archie Long, was a renowned steamboat captain, and she grew up hearing stories about the days when steamboats connected the region to urban centers. When she heard of plans to create a museum dedicated to the steamboat era she came forward to lend a hand.
McClintock is at the museum as many as four days a week. “I love giving tours to young people,” she says, “because so many have no idea about the region’s heritage.” They also may not realize how lucky they are to be hearing about it from a living link to the area’s glorious past.pl
http://www.rfmuseum.org/
|
Senior Living 
locations
Comments