Honoring our volunteers
Merriam-Webster defines a volunteer as someone who undertakes or expresses a willingness to perform a service. Cliff Cahoon is just such a person. When I interviewed him andhis wife Judy, to prepare for this article, I quickly learned that volunteerism is his way of life. I found them in the beautiful house they built, overlooking the Kettle Range.
Cliff grew up in North Seattle and spent several years in the Buckley-Mt. Rainier area where he learned the building trades. He moved to this area some forty-odd years ago to escape the busyness and congestion of the Seattle area. Ferry County filled his need for a quieter, saner lifestyle and he continued to pursue building.
He was also firmly convinced that individuals need to give back to their communities. For thirty years he was active in the local Search and Rescue, serving in several different capacities. While he didn’t have a son, he volunteered many hours with the local Boy Scout troops. He volunteered at the Curlew School, and some students, now adults, still remember building hot air balloons and setting them aloft in the school gymnasium.
Cliff was active at the local Co-op, and always glad to help with shelving and storage. Over the years he helped the Republic Library, coming to its aid during a flooding incident that required building new steps and entrance into the basement. He later helped with the addition that now houses the children’s reading section.
For many years, he has volunteered with the Ferry County Historical Society. Currently, he is excavating and leveling the Slagle Historical property (formerly the garden lot) in preparation for moving the Kaufman Cabin onto the site. He has removed the failing rock wall to the back of the property and prepared it for replacement, utilizing the original rock. He has trimmed the beautiful maple trees and removed the large bushes along the garage as we get ready to have the Slagle House, barn, washhouse and fence professionally painted.
Cliff and Judy are always ready to lend an extra pair of hands and have contributed countless volunteer hours and equipment time to our Society projects. We consider ourselves lucky to have these two selfless volunteers on our side.
Pictured above: Volunteer Clifford Calhoon is busy excavating and leveling the Slagle Historical site in preparation for moving the Kaufman Cabin there.
Historical society loses longtime leader
The Ferry County Historical Society announced recently its president, Madeline Perry, will be stepping down.
Perry, a native of Ferry County with a long history in the area, has served as the historical society’s president for several years. She has dedicated countless hours to the society and the local museum, as well as her expertise in identifying artifacts and collections.
Perry’s byline is seen atop her weekly “100 Years Ago” column in the Ferry County View.
Until recently Perry served as the editor of the Nugget, the society’s newsletter.
“Her extensive knowledge of local history and the society’s collection will certainly be missed,” said board member Nancy Morris. “The board wishes to thank her for her many years of commitment to preserving the history of Ferry County.”
Painter Dave Marcin and his helper Kailee pressure washed and painted the Slagle House
Slagle house gets facelift
The Historic Slagle House received a fresh new look in September. Board members met in August with a work party to ready the house for its paint job. Screens were removed, some overgrown bushes were removed, and work was done on the perimeter fencing.
LMR Painting Service of Republic was awarded the contract. Dave Marcin and his helper Kailee pressure-washed the house and outbuildings. A week later, they followed up with primer coats and final paint for a sparkling white finish. This has been needed for some time to protect the buildings from weather damage.
The next phase of the project will address issues with the porch roof and flooring and several foundation issues. As we continue to locate funding, we will tackle these projects.
We were able to accomplish this painting project with a generous funding grant of $13,824 from Innovia Community Grants Program.
Historical society receives gift
Ferry County Historical Society would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Friends of the Republic and Curlew Communities for their very generous donation of $2,500. Their gift will help us with our plans for the development of the Slagle Historic Site and also the Slagle House preservation currently being undertaken.
Museum visitors for 2024
Total number of visitors who signed the Whitaker/ Fletcher register in 2024: 332. This is down from last year’s 436 and still far short of the pre-pandemic attendance of over 1,000. This year we had 169 visitors from eastern Washington; 109 from western Washington; 91 from the rest of the U.S.; 11 who didn’t state a residence and the remainder from the rest of the world: 10 from Canada (half of those from B.C.), three from Japan or China and one each from Belgium, Germany and New Zealand.
Our domestic visitors sorted out like this: 13 from California, 11 from Idaho, nine from Oregon; seven from New York; five from Montana; four from Wisconsin; three from Arizona; two each from Colorado, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont; and one each from Hawaii, Michigan, New Mexico and Utah. Over half of this year’s eastern Washington visitors were from Ferry County. Although previous years’ statistics haven’t broken out the Ferry County residents, this feels like an increase.
Our thanks to the following volunteers who served as docents for the Whitaker/Fletcher Museum: Madilane Perry, Ray Bilderback, Gabriela Hoffman, Gregg Wilson, Terri Lindsey, Roland Thiele, Debra Thiele, Nancy Morris, Mick Parr and Jayne Jurgensen.
The Slagle House Museum was open on the second and fourth Saturdays during the summer months. 49 people saw the exhibit. Thank you to our volunteers, Donna Beal, Jean Delaney, Ron Gerde, Toni Graham and Jayne Jurgensen. Also, a thank you to our yard care specialists, Jim and Mike Blomquist, for keeping the yards in good condition. Students from Grace Christian Academy will be visiting the exhibit on September 26th.
Missed state funding
Ferry County Historical Society was disappointed to learn it will not be receiving a grant from the Washington State Historical Society this ‘25-’27 cycle. We applied for $40,000 in funding to move the Kaufman Cabin to the Slagle Historic Site. We didn’t convince the state organization of our ability to carry out the plan, and the fact we are an all-volunteer society was also a strike against us. Many of the grants given were in the one-million-dollar range.
LH Mason Building vacated
Society Board Members Bart Wirt and Jay Jurgensen led a group of volunteers in a work party to clear the L H Mason of items stored there. They were assisted by two members of the Stonerose organization, Jayne Jurgensen, Madilane Perry, Thacker Noble and Troy Bower. The group made quick work on the project. Artifacts are currently being stored in the city-owned Stack Building behind City Hall.
Yard sale in July
Ray Bilderback was instrumental in accomplishing a yard sale in July. He collaborated with Stonerose, setting up tables outside of the museum on a Friday and Saturday. Board members contributed by cleaning out their garages. Even though temperatures soared into the 90s, the Friday Market brought in lots of buyers. The sale brought in $350 to add to our budget and cleaned out some things we didn’t need. Thank you, Ray, for your hard work on behalf of the Society.
