Thank You to Our Museum Volunteers

The Middlesex County Museum wishes to acknowledge and thank our various volunteers who have helped to support our mission of celebrating the culture and history of life here in Middlesex County. These people have provided an array of services across various aspects of the operation and outreach of the museum. The museum has then in turn, provided a community service within our schools and general population.

Volunteer Andrew Horton dressed as a colonial seaman to attend Education Day at the annual Urbana Oyster Festival in November working with elementary and middle school students. He guided and expanded their understanding of colonial craftsmen from our area making bricks. Working with grinding oysters and mixing them together with our local clay, water and sand the students replicated building materials that were used to construct colonial buildings that still stand in Middlesex County today.

Museum volunteers Vel Gray and Claudia Soucek visited with MHS history students who toured the museum in April. They helped students with a scavenger hunt designed around the World War II exhibit including Middlesex veterans and their personal stories. The students heard a first-hand family account of Soucek’s uncle’s story of being shot down over France 4 days after D-Day.

New county resident Renee Loustaunau joined our pool of volunteers after visiting our tent at Arts in the Middle event. She began working with us researching and installing exhibits. She then transitioned to working with records related to our accessions. She has captured specific information on each item that has been donated to the museum which then allows David Jett to enter it into the computer system. She has also helped with research into the background information about the objects and the time period that they came from.

New volunteer David Jett has helped us with accessions work on the computer by inputting donated items and their specific details into our PastPerfect software program. This allows access to the information for future exhibits and community talks.

Stephanie Mulligan has helped as a volunteer with our accessions. She has helped clean historic textiles that were from the 1920s. Utilizing a slow soaking processing, she removed decades of dirt, dust, and mite dander from fragile fabric. They show beautifully after drying in the sun. We have added her latest work to the collection of children's clothing here in the main museum.

And of course, our gratitude is overflowing for the extensive time our volunteer board of director members give to the museum each month. They have donated their time and energy to guide our museum with programming, fundraising, and growth. They have been a big asset, and we greatly appreciate their advice and time. Thank you: Marilyn South (President), Rev. Dr. Robert W. Prichard (Vice President), Evelyn Beaumont (Secretary), Kathy Simmons Page (Treasurer), Bessida Cauthorne White (Executive Board Liaison), Minister Davelin Gresham, Dr. Byron Bishop, Joyce Allan, Lee Anderson, and William Budd.

An additional thank you goes to our Advisory Board who guide us with their opinion of matters facing the museum. They include for the 2025-2026 year:  Rev. Woodland Holmes, Robert L. Montague, Rev. Scott Krejci, Barbara Cockrell, Ed Fisher, Barbara Lovelace, Cynthia Lewis, Celane Roden, Claudia Soucek, Rob Warner, Larry Chowning, Jackie Taylor, Vel Gray, and Cindi Phares.

If you have a love of history, we would love to have you join us at the museum. There are many ways to volunteer including research, computer entry, hosting tours at the museum, or costumed event participation.