What a Treasured Year for Volunteers! Let’s reflect on 2017.

To kick off the year, we received a generous donation, all thanks to volunteer Crista Miller. Crista Miller volunteers for our signature events. She secured a generous monetary donation from her employer Wendy’s. Her donation helped fund Ohio Village costumes. We are truly thankful for her being an ambassador and advocating for the organization. In 2017, the skilled team of Design volunteers provided significant support throughout the year on many of our exhibit and public program activities. The Design volunteers consist of dedicated ladies Patty Donnally, Georgia Bruce, Lynn Bird and Rebecca Donnally. Their sewing expertise helped to fabricate 27 protective muslin wraps to protect the Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors photographs from the Bhutanese-Nepali exhibit. These wraps are being used in a photography exhibit as it travels to a number of our site partners over the next few years. Their work helps to provide a more personal experience to our members and thousands of visitors throughout the year. Volunteer Norma Sisson continues to be of tremendous assistance in tracking operational activities for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). In early 2017, she helped complete LEED documentation, which was submitted for review at the end of March. Norma also helps track our energy usage at sites. The data she collects helps us to advise our sites on how they can best save energy. Her work gives us a foundation for Historic Sites & Facilities to enable the Ohio History Connection to become more relevant, sustainable, and fiscally wise–both for the History Center and for sites statewide.

Highlights of 2017 ........................................................................................ 1

Highlights of 2017, Presidential Hours .....................................................2

Volunteer Stats and Upcoming Events .....................................................3

New Volunteers & Interns, Anniversaries, Farewell ............................... 4

Farewell! Until We Meet Again, In Loving Memory ................................ 5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

VOLUNTEER VISIONS The Ohio History Connection Volunteer Office Newsletter

2017-18 Volunteer Reflections

Highlights of 2017 continued………… We also want to extend our deepest appreciation to the interns and volunteers at National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center who worked tirelessly during summer 2017 on the creation of African Americans Fighting for a Double Victory. They assisted with researching, selecting, cleaning, and photographing artifacts needed for the exhibit. Special thanks go to Gina and Miranda Dyson, a mother and daughter team who painted a mural backdrop for a section of the exhibit. Without each person’s dedication and enthusiasm, the exhibit-opening deadline would not have been met. A big thank you to volunteer Michael Dion for her dedication, tireless efforts, and keen eye for detail. Not only does she tackle some of the most arduous tasks, she has also made sure that the Archaeology Department is up-to-date with industry standards and best practices by donating towards the purchase of a new GPS. Knowing the exact location of tests units, artifacts, utility lines, and more is vital in terms of artifact context, archaeological site mapping, and site history. We greatly appreciate Michael’s efforts in helping us both in the lab and in the field! Special shout out to our incredible weekend museum floor volunteers. Through their work with hands-on carts and activities, they are the faces visitors encounter throughout the museum on Saturdays and Sundays. They are wonderful spokespeople for our exhibits and Ohio history and we could not provide the best possible weekend experience without them! All of our volunteers are dedicated, passionate and contributes so much to our organization. Your efforts help us achieve our mission of sparking the discovery of Ohio stories!

Presidential Hours Donated

We would like to recognize volunteers that have reached the Presidential milestone and completed 250 hours or more in 2017. Kristi Sands- 254.5 Patty Bennett- 257.5 Harriet Merriman- 259 David Boop 263 Hughes William- 272 Lynn Odegaard- 290.75 John King- 302

Jennifer Bell- 304.5 Marcia King- 306.25 Curt Green- 307.25 Elizabeth Aino- 317.96 Peter Guter- 337 Linda Herring- 358.05 Ami Violet- 369.5

Norma Sisson- 375.25 Ed Violet- 377.5 Harding Kirchhoff- 521.5 Joby Easley- 615.5 Jim Kimnach- 615.5

We appreciate all of our volunteers that have given time out of their busy lives to support the Ohio History Connection. By choosing to volunteer for us without a fee, you have proven that your time and talents are priceless. Thanks for volunteering! Thank you to all of our volunteers that donated their time in 2017 at the Ohio History Connection!

Volunteer Statistics For 2017

We had a total of 558 Center volunteers and 1596+ site volunteers in FY2017 that generated $1,899,131 in support for the Connection. Without dedicated volunteers like you, the OHC would not be able to put on great events, help facilitate programs, preserve our collections, assist in research and many more to spark the public’s love of history and imagination. We want to extend an enormous “thank you” to all of our wonderful volunteers that make these numbers happen! 2 VOLUNTEER VISIONS, 2018

Annual Events

Night at the Museum – 2/24

*History After Hours- 4/21

Opening Weekend – 5/26

Storybook Village – 6/9

Independence Day – 7/1

Ohio Cup Family Festival – 9/1 –2

All Hallows’ Eve – 10/13 & 20

Dickens of a Christmas – 12/7-9;

12/14-16

Our events would not be possible

without the help of our wonderful

and dedicated volunteers! If you’re

interested in volunteering for these

events, feel free to sign up online.

Let’s Welcome Our New Volunteers and Interns Kayleen Barker Bob Bernhart Donald Cagle Shirley Cain Quinn Giesige Jenn Hartman Frank Kienast Janet Leffler Raquel Lightner Kristan Loychik Ana Mitchell Deborah Near Karen Wahl Sarah Isaacs Lore Lehr

Denise Reynard Makenzie Swaney Savannah Walker Delaney Zartman Theresa DiGiannantoni Diana Skestos Julius Skestos Ruby Durakovic Nia Hassey Kathleen Skestos Elizabeth Weis Audrey Lauerhass Anushka Mardolkar Jessica Breckenridge Holly Guggenbiller

Maryssa Herschler Andrea Lee Hilary Gunnels Christopher Riley James Shumaker Sean Brooks Hannelore Willeck Mary Austin Vernetta Kiser Elizabeth Sines Alexandra Currie Aaron Keirns Stephen Schneider Katherine Tedesco Kevin Kuhn

Alex Nethers Christopher Nethers Elizabeth Nethers Mary Vaughn Amy Smith Brian Hartzell Matthew Natali Danisha Mitchell Charles Withrow Paul Callahan Yeva Gasparyan George Shaffer Paige Higgins Patrick Steffan Stacey George

Alexandra Nininger Cassidy Horency Avery Gordon Olga Leshchik Marcus McCrary Yasmin Mohamud Kama Neff Dawn Borror Kristi Sands Michele Kenny David Wallace Annette Taylor Jonathan Racster

Anniversaries As we look back on 2017, we would like to congratulate all of our current volunteers that have 20+ years of service with the Ohio History Connection. Thank you for your time and dedication to the Connection. Jacquelyn Forquer- 20 Joel Moore- 20 Donald Gehlbach- 21 Georgia Bruce- 21 John King- 22 Andrew Shuman- 22 Janet Bauer- 23 Michael O'Halloran- 23 John Anderson- 24

Duane Koons- 24 Kevin Lehr- 24 Ian Frias- 25 Chip Moore- 26 Dale Brandon- 26 Charles Wertz- 26 Patricia Barker- 26 Mike Nightwine- 26 Dennis Thompson- 27

Marilyn Andersen- 28 Craig Andersen- 29 Marcia King- 30 Don Andersen- 30 Rosalie Frazier- 33 Katherine Rasor- 35 MaryLou DiDonato- 37 Betty Menear- 41 Patricia Donnally- 46

Farewell, Until We Meet Again! We like to recognize volunteers that donated much time to the Ohio History Connection, but are now embarking on the life of volunteer retirement.

After 35 years, volunteer Katy Rasor made the difficult decision to retire her volunteer efforts with the Ohio History Connection. Katy did a wonderful job welcoming people into the Schmidt house and explaining the life of the immigrants that came to Ohio as a volunteer in the Ohio Village. She would often welcome folks

to come in and “sit for a spell” while she talked to them about how immigrants adjusted to and lived in Ohio. She was always eager to explain and show off interesting and unusual artifacts in the Schmidt house taking care to make sure that even the smallest child understood the use and purpose of the artifact. She has been a valuable asset to our volunteer team and to the Visitor Experience department. It will be difficult to replace her, as her crafty talents are rare.

Farewell, Until We Meet Again continued............. From the beginning, 24 years, Janet Bauer enjoyed and shared her interpretive talents with many visitors in the toy store which was her delight. Many visitors had the experience of making kites and other “toys” of the period that they could take with them. Additionally, Janet would explain and/or demonstrate to them or get them to participate in games and activities of which they might not know or understand. Either way she created an enjoyable and entertaining learning environment. Both ladies contributed to the “village community” and will be missed but remembered by many visitors as their window into the past. Janet and Katy were two of the first volunteers to step up to the challenge with the reopening of the Ohio Village with the new volunteer program. Janet embraced her role as a first person character while Katy chose to be third person. Both Janet and Katie have also given many years’ service to our education programs. They served as costumed characters for our Underground Railroad program, facilitators at our many museum tables and program stations, and assisted in developing and fine-tuning many programs. They’ve been a valued member of the organization, and we wish them the very best. Their experience, knowledge, dedication and presence will be sorely missed. Best of luck in their brand new adventure!

Esther Legget Esther Legget was an original volunteer. Esther recently retired from volunteering at Ohio History Connection. She started as a volunteer when the Ohio History Center was built in 1971 and the organization was looking for volunteers for the new Center. She was involved in bringing learning programs to schools – a program that expanded once other departments saw the possibility in this. She was also involved in the beginnings of the summer dig experience at Scioto Trails in south Columbus, and an extensive program in the museum for a school day dig and lab experience. She spent the last of her volunteer years volunteering in the Design department assisting with creating art & crafts, and props for various events and programs along with sewing and pattern-making for costumes. Esther always had a smile on her face and had stories that would last two life times. She has stayed in touch with some folks at the History Center after her retirement from volunteering. Thank you for the wonderful memories you have given us. You will be sorely missed!

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM 800 E. 17th Ave.

Columbus, OH 43211

IN LOVING MEMORY

Thank you!