Farewell from TDHS Past President Katie Holley, 2018-20 April 10, 2020
TDHS was among the first organizations that interested me when I arrived in Truckee in 2008. My earliest days as a volunteer I spent happily sorting, organizing, and labeling administrative files in the Joseph Research Library (then still known only as “the cabin”). I discovered that I loved the history of the Society as well as the history of the community. I could see that each era in the Society’s history had developed a focus, always keeping in mind the mission to preserve and protect Truckee area history.
I felt grateful for all those historians and caretakers who had come before me. Their activities and accomplishments filled the first 40 years well: gathering artifacts, documents, oral histories; sponsoring speaker series and author book talks; engaging the public in special events and field trips; hosting the annual Old Timers Picnic and Community gathering; protecting and promoting our great assets of the Old Jail Museum and “the cabin”; selling Truckee-history-related books, maps, mugs, tee shirts, and stationery; participating in community events like the July 4 parade, the Cannibal Cruise, Windows on History, and the Tiny Tim holiday craft fair.
Two board members from 2008 are still in the area and remain TDHS members: Chelsea Walterscheid and Bob Bell. A native to Truckee, Chelsea has championed the Old Timers Picnic for at least the past 2 decades. Bob was treasurer for TDHS for several years, and currently is on the board of the Museum of Truckee History, a joint project with the Truckee Donner Railroad Society.
Some members with whom I worked in 2008 sadly have passed away, but I well remember Don Colclaugh, who coordinated school tours at the Old Jail Museum and was one of the regular docents, and Carmen LeBlanc, who was our liaison for book sales at local retailers and at special events.
Other members have moved out of the area. Billie Cornell was a computer dynamo - she managed our website, published our newsletter, and managed membership.
One thing that stood out to me in those early days was the effort to raise funds to get a replacement of the roof at the Old Jail Museum. Judy Dunlap and Chelsea worked tirelessly and successfully on this project.
It was Judy’s dream also that the cabin be open to the public with regular hours. Chaun Mortier joined the society in 2009, and together we made that dream come true that summer. Every Thursday since then - well, until coronavirus interrupted - the Joseph Research Library has been open to the public from 10 am to 2 pm. Those early days were a steep, joyous learning curve for me and Chaun, just getting to know what assets we had and where things were, then beginning to build a standardized process for accepting artifact donations and responding to research requests. Barbara Schlumpf was part of that effort, and worked as one of our researchers for a time.
More people joined the team: Dennis Beeghly came up from Sparks in 2009 wanting to know if we could identify someone in a photograph (it was Wally Gellatt, holding a fish), and before he left that day Judy Dunlap had recruited him to be treasurer. He held that position and was our in-house railroad expert until 2017. Barbara Czerwinski came on the scene in 2010 with research skills that would impress the CIA. Among her many accomplishments: a detailed timeline of Truckee history, a history of buildings by street names, a history of medical care and practitioners in the area including the medical response to the flu pandemic of 1918-19, and extensive research of the snowbound train The City of San Francisco in 1952.
Heidi Sproat joined in 2013 and transformed our first-generation website to a snappy, easily navigated portal to all things TDHS, and began publishing a quarterly newsletter rich in well-researched articles. Heidi applied for and received a Rotary grant to digitize photographs and make them available online so that researchers from anywhere can see what is in our image collection database.
Together Barbara and Heidi conducted comprehensive research on and submitted an application for recognition of the Truckee Veterans Memorial Building as having National Historic status.
Karl Pape joined in 2012, with a background in geology and aviation. He became our map maven, creating an indexed reference to our extensive map collection. Karl has served as the volunteer scheduler and school tour coordinator for the Old Jail Museum for several years. He is our prime OJM volunteer, working 10-4 on Saturday and Sunday all summer long.
Thursday cabin regular Patricia Featherstone discovered TDHS in 2013 by seeing the gathering of people at Truckee Regional Park for the Old Timers Picnic, and became a docent at the OJM soon after. Patricia has served on the board as recording secretary, served as newsletter copy editor and membership chair, and has been on the constitution revision committee and election committee. Patricia is a weekly docent at the OJM during the summer season, and leads tours for school children every spring, often in the persona of Isabella Bird. (Isabella was a plucky English woman who traveled alone in the American West in the 1880s, passing through Truckee on her way to the Rocky Mountains.) A gifted educator and storyteller, Patricia makes history come alive for her audiences of any age.
Ron Rettig has long been our film history expert, and has a knack for finding intriguing items of interest on the Internet that are related to Truckee. Ron’s knowledge is broad and deep on many subjects, so we can count on him to share treasures with us on a regular basis.
Another cabin regular is Steve Harris, whose eclectic interests often land on the history of Chinese people in Truckee in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Greg Zirbel is our one Truckee native currently on the Board. His love of Truckee is especially personal, as he or his family knew people that many of the rest of us have only read about.
Greg’s artistic creativity manifests in many ways. For example, for the celebration in 2019 of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, he developed an activity for kids and families to learn more about Truckee history by visiting two dozen sites along Donner Pass Road from downtown up to Donner Summit. Greg designed a train “passport” for kids to take to locations along the route, each of which had a stamping station for a page in the passport. The page corresponding to the site shared information about the contemporary business as well as what type of business had been there in the past.
Greg is the curator of the OJM, arranging exhibits to maximize visitor enjoyment and interest. He is a regular docent throughout the summer, typically on Truckee Thursday when you can see him in his miner’s outfit strolling through the crowd, mining pan clanging against his pick and shovel. Greg is the master of the “can do” approach to any challenge, and takes on tasks and responsibilities with enthusiasm.
Our most recent new board members are Tracy Pelletier and Rick Solinski. Tracy is our cheerful and thorough recording secretary. Rick promotes TDHS via posts of photographs on our Facebook page. Since Rick began this work in 2019, visits to our page have increased significantly. Often people are able to provide additional information that helps us to know the date that the photograph was taken.
Mentioning Facebook brings me full circle to my first comrade in arms, Chaun Mortier, because she saw the need early on to get TDHS on social media, and created our Facebook account.
Chaun always had a great vision for TDHS. She foresaw a vibrant, respected research center active with dedicated volunteers and lively with connection to the broader community. TDHS grew into its current era under her leadership and her presidency from 2012 to 2018. (I have long acknowledged that my gifts were in organization and office management. Without Chaun, the cabin would be well organized but with no one in it.)
Chaun’s relentless research and documentation have categorized thousands of photographs and personal collections given to us by historical Truckee families. She continues to build a master index, cross referencing individuals, businesses, census records, photographs, and documents. Chaun has built collaborative relationships with other organizations such as the Truckee Donner Railroad Society, the Donner Summit Historical Society, and the Washoe tribe.
The respected research organization is a reality.
It has been my honor and privilege to have volunteered with so many dedicated and inspiring people in the past 12 years. I will miss my Thursday “cabin days,” but I will carry the happy knowledge that research and education will continue for TDHS. How things happen in a post-coronavirus world will be different, but I have confidence that the Truckee-Donner Historical Society, like Truckee itself, will survive and thrive.
Katie Holley
TDHS President 2018-20
I felt grateful for all those historians and caretakers who had come before me. Their activities and accomplishments filled the first 40 years well: gathering artifacts, documents, oral histories; sponsoring speaker series and author book talks; engaging the public in special events and field trips; hosting the annual Old Timers Picnic and Community gathering; protecting and promoting our great assets of the Old Jail Museum and “the cabin”; selling Truckee-history-related books, maps, mugs, tee shirts, and stationery; participating in community events like the July 4 parade, the Cannibal Cruise, Windows on History, and the Tiny Tim holiday craft fair.
Two board members from 2008 are still in the area and remain TDHS members: Chelsea Walterscheid and Bob Bell. A native to Truckee, Chelsea has championed the Old Timers Picnic for at least the past 2 decades. Bob was treasurer for TDHS for several years, and currently is on the board of the Museum of Truckee History, a joint project with the Truckee Donner Railroad Society.
Some members with whom I worked in 2008 sadly have passed away, but I well remember Don Colclaugh, who coordinated school tours at the Old Jail Museum and was one of the regular docents, and Carmen LeBlanc, who was our liaison for book sales at local retailers and at special events.
Other members have moved out of the area. Billie Cornell was a computer dynamo - she managed our website, published our newsletter, and managed membership.
One thing that stood out to me in those early days was the effort to raise funds to get a replacement of the roof at the Old Jail Museum. Judy Dunlap and Chelsea worked tirelessly and successfully on this project.
It was Judy’s dream also that the cabin be open to the public with regular hours. Chaun Mortier joined the society in 2009, and together we made that dream come true that summer. Every Thursday since then - well, until coronavirus interrupted - the Joseph Research Library has been open to the public from 10 am to 2 pm. Those early days were a steep, joyous learning curve for me and Chaun, just getting to know what assets we had and where things were, then beginning to build a standardized process for accepting artifact donations and responding to research requests. Barbara Schlumpf was part of that effort, and worked as one of our researchers for a time.
More people joined the team: Dennis Beeghly came up from Sparks in 2009 wanting to know if we could identify someone in a photograph (it was Wally Gellatt, holding a fish), and before he left that day Judy Dunlap had recruited him to be treasurer. He held that position and was our in-house railroad expert until 2017. Barbara Czerwinski came on the scene in 2010 with research skills that would impress the CIA. Among her many accomplishments: a detailed timeline of Truckee history, a history of buildings by street names, a history of medical care and practitioners in the area including the medical response to the flu pandemic of 1918-19, and extensive research of the snowbound train The City of San Francisco in 1952.
Heidi Sproat joined in 2013 and transformed our first-generation website to a snappy, easily navigated portal to all things TDHS, and began publishing a quarterly newsletter rich in well-researched articles. Heidi applied for and received a Rotary grant to digitize photographs and make them available online so that researchers from anywhere can see what is in our image collection database.
Together Barbara and Heidi conducted comprehensive research on and submitted an application for recognition of the Truckee Veterans Memorial Building as having National Historic status.
Karl Pape joined in 2012, with a background in geology and aviation. He became our map maven, creating an indexed reference to our extensive map collection. Karl has served as the volunteer scheduler and school tour coordinator for the Old Jail Museum for several years. He is our prime OJM volunteer, working 10-4 on Saturday and Sunday all summer long.
Thursday cabin regular Patricia Featherstone discovered TDHS in 2013 by seeing the gathering of people at Truckee Regional Park for the Old Timers Picnic, and became a docent at the OJM soon after. Patricia has served on the board as recording secretary, served as newsletter copy editor and membership chair, and has been on the constitution revision committee and election committee. Patricia is a weekly docent at the OJM during the summer season, and leads tours for school children every spring, often in the persona of Isabella Bird. (Isabella was a plucky English woman who traveled alone in the American West in the 1880s, passing through Truckee on her way to the Rocky Mountains.) A gifted educator and storyteller, Patricia makes history come alive for her audiences of any age.
Ron Rettig has long been our film history expert, and has a knack for finding intriguing items of interest on the Internet that are related to Truckee. Ron’s knowledge is broad and deep on many subjects, so we can count on him to share treasures with us on a regular basis.
Another cabin regular is Steve Harris, whose eclectic interests often land on the history of Chinese people in Truckee in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Greg Zirbel is our one Truckee native currently on the Board. His love of Truckee is especially personal, as he or his family knew people that many of the rest of us have only read about.
Greg’s artistic creativity manifests in many ways. For example, for the celebration in 2019 of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, he developed an activity for kids and families to learn more about Truckee history by visiting two dozen sites along Donner Pass Road from downtown up to Donner Summit. Greg designed a train “passport” for kids to take to locations along the route, each of which had a stamping station for a page in the passport. The page corresponding to the site shared information about the contemporary business as well as what type of business had been there in the past.
Greg is the curator of the OJM, arranging exhibits to maximize visitor enjoyment and interest. He is a regular docent throughout the summer, typically on Truckee Thursday when you can see him in his miner’s outfit strolling through the crowd, mining pan clanging against his pick and shovel. Greg is the master of the “can do” approach to any challenge, and takes on tasks and responsibilities with enthusiasm.
Our most recent new board members are Tracy Pelletier and Rick Solinski. Tracy is our cheerful and thorough recording secretary. Rick promotes TDHS via posts of photographs on our Facebook page. Since Rick began this work in 2019, visits to our page have increased significantly. Often people are able to provide additional information that helps us to know the date that the photograph was taken.
Mentioning Facebook brings me full circle to my first comrade in arms, Chaun Mortier, because she saw the need early on to get TDHS on social media, and created our Facebook account.
Chaun always had a great vision for TDHS. She foresaw a vibrant, respected research center active with dedicated volunteers and lively with connection to the broader community. TDHS grew into its current era under her leadership and her presidency from 2012 to 2018. (I have long acknowledged that my gifts were in organization and office management. Without Chaun, the cabin would be well organized but with no one in it.)
Chaun’s relentless research and documentation have categorized thousands of photographs and personal collections given to us by historical Truckee families. She continues to build a master index, cross referencing individuals, businesses, census records, photographs, and documents. Chaun has built collaborative relationships with other organizations such as the Truckee Donner Railroad Society, the Donner Summit Historical Society, and the Washoe tribe.
The respected research organization is a reality.
It has been my honor and privilege to have volunteered with so many dedicated and inspiring people in the past 12 years. I will miss my Thursday “cabin days,” but I will carry the happy knowledge that research and education will continue for TDHS. How things happen in a post-coronavirus world will be different, but I have confidence that the Truckee-Donner Historical Society, like Truckee itself, will survive and thrive.
Katie Holley
TDHS President 2018-20
