Brownville-Brownville Junction Historical Society holds annual meeting

BROWNVILLE — The Brownville-Brownville Junction Historical Society held its annual meeting on May 14 at the Parish House Museum.

The election of officers retained the same officers from last year: President & Secretary Susan Worcester, Vice President George Dean and Treasurer Lana Washburn.

The crew from the Charleston Correctional Facility is expected to begin the renovation project of the bathroom within the next few weeks. The society is thankful that the labor for this project will be provided by the correctional facility and hopes that this project will provide a handicapped accessible space at the museum.

The big project for the volunteers will be working on the restoration of the scoreboard from Brownville Junction High School. It is hoped that the project will be completed — as much as it is possible to do so — by the BJHS Alumni Reunion Weekend in August. Dean is trying to locate any photos possible that might show just what the scoreboard looked like when the school was opened. If anyone has such information, please contact the society at brownvillehistorical@trcmaine.org or call Worcester at 965-8070.

There was discussion about projects the volunteers hope to complete this summer at the museum; those projects include the documentation of all items and documents in the museum in the PastPerfect program and that work will continue for a long time to come.

Worcester talked about volunteerism. While the number of regular volunteers at the museum is very small, it is a dedicated group and there is never a lack of projects to work on. She listed several projects that need to be undertaken should new volunteers appear. Most of these tasks require little skill or training but the current volunteers are willing to train new people for any task they wish to learn.

The importance of volunteerism can not be overemphasized. There are so many organizations that provide worthwhile and necessary work for our small communities and the society is just one. Perhaps you would not be interested in spending a few hours at the museum every week, but if you are only able to take on a short term project that can be worked on at home or completed in a few weeks or a month at the museum then the society needs you.

If you would like to become one of the weekly volunteers who “man” the museum on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every week from mid-June through September. Whatever amount of time, whatever skills you have to offer, whatever part of Brownville and the Junction’s history interests you, the society can find a place in you. Please drop in or contact Worcester at 965-8070 or through email brownvillehistorical@trcmaine.org.

The museum will open on June 18 this year. There will be two Saturday dates when it will be open: the first Saturday of August — Brownville Community Church’s Old Home Days (from 9 a.m. to noon) and Aug. 17 (BJHS Alumni Reunion) from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The museum is also open by appointment. For more information, please contact Worcester at 965-8070.