Museum seeks volunteers

HIGH SPRINGS – Anyone with time on their hands can find plenty to do by volunteering at the High Springs Historical Museum.

“We can use all the help we can get,” said Museum President Bob Watson. The list of projects being tackled by the small organization is amazing and volunteers are needed for all different types of work, he said.

The museum cannot charge for any of the items or events they are planning, but a minimum donation would be greatly appreciated, Watson said.  

The organization is spearheading the creation of a book about the area called “Images of America: High Springs.” 

The book will consist of 180-240 black-and-white photos of High Springs through the years. Volunteers are needed to help identify some of the locations and people in the photos, write descriptions of what each photo depicts and help organize the book for publication.

In addition to the book, the organization also offers carriage tours.

The carriage rides will begin later this month or early in April, depending on weather conditions. Volunteers have built a hitching post in front of the High Springs Elementary School and Community Center, the building in which the museum occupies a couple of rooms, to accommodate the horse and carriage. Visitors can either just take a carriage ride or they can opt to tour some of the historic buildings and homes in High Springs.

If helping write a book or operate a carriage tour doesn’t rev up a potential volunteer’s engine, there is another project that might.

A 1924 Brockway LaFrance fire truck has been turned over to the Museum by the High Springs Fire Department. Volunteers to help restore the truck are needed. Mechanics and someone to do minor repairs would be helpful, along with volunteers to wash and wax the vehicle, Watson said. The city paid $6,000 for the truck in 1924. It is the first fire truck purchased by High Springs and it has been housed at the fire station until recently.

The group is also looking for a building in which to store the fire truck so visitors can see it, but where it will still be protected from the elements. Anyone having the ability to help locate or build an appropriate structure could be put to good use, Watson said.

For people looking to volunteer with a smaller project, a diorama of the town in the 1900s is being created. Volunteers are needed to help with wiring and hooking up the diorama for display.

Volunteers will be needed during Pioneer Days to help visitors as they tour museum displays.

Vintage toy cars, trucks and other trinkets are sought after to create an additional exhibit in the school building.

The group is planning to make a replica of the old elementary school classroom in one of the rooms. Blackboards, tables and chairs from the school or in the era when the school was serving the children of High Springs are being sought and a teacher's brass school bell has been donated by second grade school teacher, Mrs. Everett, to add a little bit more authenticity to the school setting. The school, which was built in 1928, was closed sometime in the mid-1960s, but has now been restored.

Volunteers are also being sought after to help establish a garden area in front of the old school building. Plants, mulch, seeds and people to help are all that are needed, Watson said. Some plants are already on site and more have been promised.

The organization is still looking for the 14 missing bricks that were removed from the old railroad yard. Volunteers prepared an area in front of the building in which to place the bricks and all 277 of the recovered bricks have now been placed. However, more work in that area needs to be done. Volunteers still have to plant a couple of trees on each end of the walkway and a seating area under each tree needs to be created. Soon, a River of Remembrance sign, currently being made by volunteer Larry Behnke, will be ready to be placed near the walkway.

The group is also looking for photos of all of the area springs. A map of the springs' locations is also being sought, if one exists, or it could be created by knowledgeable volunteers. Older residents who have lived in the area for some time could help to identify locations and names of the different springs. Some of the springs may not have been formally named, but an older volunteer might know what they were commonly called, Watson said.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com