Marty Lamoureux, Board Member, Boone County Historical Society, August 12, 2026

On our program today, we'll make it work. There we go, we've got Marty LaMaurie, Marty is a board member with the Boone County Historical Society, joining us today to give us a little update on what's going on. Marty, thanks for joining us. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Here we are. Yeah, well, we figured everybody was up this morning anyway with all the rumbling. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, either that or that when they're going back to sleep, they didn't sleep well, so hopefully we have an audience, so we'll see. Well, either that or they were looking to see just how deep it was and what was going on with it all. I will, I did want to say that speaking of storms, did you guys extend even further the Jordan tornado display? Yes, we did. As a matter of fact, that was one of the things that I was going to talk about. Okay, then I'll not interrupt your program. Right. The display has been very, very popular. Well, we're going all the way through August with it because it was just, we had, I've had a lot of visitors and a lot of interest and it's been a very successful exhibit for us. So, which has been great. Yeah. Well, that was the 50th anniversary, wasn't it? It was June 13th. Yeah. So, it was, but for the 50th anniversary of it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of our theme this year. A lot of the things that we have right now are either 50th or 60th anniversaries. We had possibility days. We've got the CAC 1976 football champs, the Jordan tornado. So, it was kind of an anniversary event year. So, that's been pretty nice to be able to celebrate those things. Well, I'm going to let you, I'll let you go ahead and kind of give everybody an update on what's been going on with the board. Okay. That sounds good. We met on, on, on Tuesday, August 4th at 6 p.m. Again, it's open to the public meeting, all of our board meetings. We meet the first Tuesday of every month. We had all of our board members present except one that was on vacation. And with our president's comments and correspondence, she let us know if we received anything. We received a very nice $500 donation from a lifetime member. And we appreciate that. About half of our, no, not quite half of our members are lifetime. That was a time when you could join for a certain dollar amount and, like I said, considered, didn't have to then pay the annual membership. But we are really thankful that those individuals will continue to donate to the history center on a regular basis. So, that's really nice. Um, we also received a correspondence from an individual with information about Nathaniel Boone. And this individual feels as though they've traced their family genealogy back to that she is a relative of Nathaniel Boone. We have a couple of people that are really interested in that establishment of Boone Boone Spurl. And we're going to try and connect these two individuals if we feel if it's appropriate and have permission to get them connected. So, the research part is kind of fun for all four people. Okay, Treasurer's Report. No new report. We do a quarterly full report on that. We did have one higher than expected cost for work on the elevator. But that is something we are more than glad to do just because we know we have to keep it safe and running at this point until we can get it replaced. Okay. Um, old business, computers. We went about looking at assessing our needs for upgrades on the computers for use in the research room as well as for use with each one of the individual projects that we have going on. So, we did go about and we did do refurbished. We didn't buy anything new and we actually had a couple of donated laptops again, which we will really appreciate having. They're still perfectly good to use. So, we just wipe all the information off and reload and then transfer our information to them. Luckily, we have one of our board members who's handy at doing that. I am not so I'm glad we have somebody who has those skills. Let's see. One of the things that we want to do with the donated laptops that we have is a suggestion was made that we possibly look at doing presentations, not obviously outside of the History Center. And one of the places we'd like to do that is at the nursing homes, because that's a place where those individuals maybe aren't mobile and able to get to the center to come to one of our presentations. In this way, we can bring ourselves to them. And I think there's a fair amount of them that would enjoy some of the things that we've been able to present. So, landscaping is another one on old business. We had a donation of some trees in memory of a lifetime member's family member. We wanted to wait until the weather kind of straightened out a little bit. I don't know if that's going to happen and I don't know about you, but it's turning a really weird color. I'm looking out my window and it's really still. I don't know if we still have storms on the way or not, but anyway. I'll side with you on that. Yeah. Okay. But we wanted to wait until we could regularly water or there was, I guess we could have had plenty of rain with the trees, but we are going to get that project done as well as the phase two of the initial landscaping that we did when we cleaned everything up, put the rock in the mulch down and cleaned everything up. And again, then we still have funds left from a really generous donation of a person. And she had some specific things that she wanted to have planted around the history center, kind of some of the more old-time plantings, peonies, lilacs, hydrangeas, that kind of thing. So, Brian Hansen and I will go shopping when appropriate and get those things in probably hopefully before Puffer Billy Day. All right. Speaking of which, that segues into old business on Puffer Billy Day. We will be open that day at noon and we may extend our hours, we'll announce that, probably put it on our Facebook post and we'll have our September meeting before then also. We have a nice display of Puffer Billy Day memorabilia on second floor, which is already up. And we are missing a few buttons from our collection. We will continue to look for them. I don't have written down the specific ones that we do not have. I think the majority are maybe from the early ones from in the 70s that we do not have. But if you are cleaning out a drawer or happen to have duplicates or even if you would like to maybe loan for us so that we can display them and then we would return them to you, let us know. Just give a call down to either to the center. You can call me directly and I can get hold of our collections person.

So, we're looking forward to that. I know I'm going to be going to a meeting on the 17th, I guess next Monday, where I think they're getting together to try and look at that, trying to increase that, put traffic through downtown. I believe is what kind of the goal is. It's a meeting from 10 to 11 on the 17th. Looking for different events and activities, I'm sure. We had a crazy day sale, which was a success for us. We've done that previously, but hadn't done it for a few years. Joe Howell coordinated that. She's our collections person and we had a lot of items that we either had duplicates of or they were not, that's basically what it was. The majority it was duplicate or not needed. And so, we were glad to be able to participate in that community event. And I think that's it on old business. New business. We're looking into up on our third floor where our volunteers have been working to continue to go through what collection items are up there. Up on third floor, it's kind of dark up there. We're looking at some replacing a little bit better lighting up there. And we, I think we went ahead and purchased that and not a high expense, but something that'll make it easier for the people working up there. And we are looking into also maybe the automatic lighting systems where you walk into the room, it turns on, you walk out of the room, it shuts off. We'll see if that's something we feel like we want to invest in. And that darkness that was coming in is absolutely pouring again. If you want a weather update from Montana road, I can barely see across the street. So, yeah, all I have is the little front door to look out and it's pretty dark out there too. So, okay, there you go. All right. Another thing I do business. This is more kind of an internal organization. You know, we have a lot of items, research items and resources for people. And each one of the board members and the volunteers may not always know where to locate in the center where something is. So, we're looking at building up a reference sheet with links as to where to find certain items and then pop and then also put that on our computer in the research room. So, people who are doing research are able to find what they need to. So, just to get a little bit more organized.

That also with keykeepers. We have keys to all our display cabinets and locking areas and those type of things. We're going to get that a little bit more organized. Again, more of an internal process for new business for us than really interest to the public. But at least you know, we're working on being organized. One thing we're looking forward to on the new business is the 60th anniversary party for the Boone Historical Society. That date is actually November. The date that is the anniversary date is November 8th of 2026. There is a trail tail that has the actual celebration that they did back in 2016. So, we referenced back to that. They actually, and then Joe Howell in Going Through Collections found, I guess it was in 2010, excuse me, not 2016,

found two declarations. One by the Board of County Supervisors and one by the City declaring it Boone County Historical Society Day on that date. Kind of interesting to have the history of what we're going to plan a party for. So, I'll be in contact actually with both of the the Mayor's Office and the Board of Supervisors to request declarations for the 60th anniversary. And we discussed, we haven't gotten the finalized. I think probably it may be a member's only event. So, if you'd like to attend and think it'd be fun, you could get a membership before November 8th. The year's kind of waning down, but anyway, we'll be putting out more information about time frame refreshments and presentations to be determined. So, okay. I think that was it on new business. We kind of had a, that's a real long meeting this month. So, moving into committee reports. I need to get my sheet here and look at that. Okay. Yep, we talked about collections for their report. They just continue their work in sorting, locating and placing artifacts in past perfect and making sure the location is clear. And they're really making good progress of being able to get through the attic. And they already told you about the crazy days. And that is all the report from the selection exhibit. Again, with the Jordan tornado, we're going through August, as we said before. And we really have had, really enjoyed having people come through for that. What's been fun for when I've been there is hearing people that come in and then tell me their story about what they were doing and where they were at on the day of that tornado. So, the next upcoming event for us is the 1976 BHS CIC football champions football team. And that'll be on September 25th and 26th. Jeannie is still working with those committee members. They've been doing some Zoom meetings and getting more things set up and really have that fun working on getting that ready to go. We also then, with Puffer Billy Day, they already talked about that, about our exhibit and that we will be open to.

We were open for a ride, but that was pretty much kind of a bust for us as well. It's pretty much downtown. We were open from nine to three and had just a couple visitors as far as that went. So, we had a little bit of traffic coming in later, but anyway, we were open for it. So, the next thing kind of in November, we'll start planning a 2027 exhibit for the history of Racing in Boone County. The exhibit will run at least August through September of 2027. Obviously, it's a year out and we may expand this depending upon what items and stories and history are available, since it is such a big part of the community and has been a long-standing tradition to have the Boone Speedway. I do know that one of the places that used to be out by the Speedway has been a research item that we've been looking for is the old Skelly gas station that was on that corner where the parking right is. And so, if anybody happens to have any information about that, we would appreciate having you send it to us, come bring it to us, call us and tell us about it, because we have had a couple people who have had a lot of interest in that old gas station. I remember eating tenderloins there. So, anyway. Okay. Publications. Well, we're looking forward to TrailTales. It's all put together and it's gone for proofing. And so, it should be coming out. This edition will be longer than normal and the layout works. So, a lot of work has gone into that and it's kind of a fun one since we had such a good display with everything.

That's it. Rentals. We still continue to have an average of about four months and that's going well. The shop, we've done a little bit of rearranging and some relabeling. We bring in some of the duplicate items down to the shop for sale. We do now have little passports and stamps for the kids when they come to the History Center, that they have certain items that they have to look for and then they take the stamp and stamp it and bring the passport back to us and when they come back and get that, they get a bookmark and a pencil. So, that's kind of fun for the kids. We do have a tour coming through August 20th, I believe it is. It's set up through Visit Goon County with Chris Blocker. So, we're always excited to have those. I think it's going to be about 40 people, she said, and I don't, off the top of my head, remember where they're coming from. We do like to have the tours come. So, it's fun to have people see, showcase Boone, things about Boone and then learn a little bit about where everybody else is from.

Membership, as usual, just do my repeat that I do every time I'm on. We appreciate the supportive membership. Individual is $30. Family is $45. Business is $80. Those are updated annually and so, that's it on membership. We're working, Kate Shelley, we are working with Tammy from the library on an event in September. I think we're narrowing things down to get a date on Kate Shelley via presentation. Initially, I think we had talked about having it down at the depot, but that was the library. I wanted to have it at the depot. I think we are rethinking that. We haven't finalized our decision, but just due to things such as weather and bathroom facilities, we aren't sure we want to do it down at the depot area. Yeah, that might be a bit of a challenge. Yeah. So, I think we're thinking it'll either be at the center or at the library. We haven't made a final decision yet. So, we're working on the final speaker options and getting the dates nailed down. This is part of the 125-year journey that the library is going through and we're just helping them with presentation and information. So, it's really kind of neat the way they put that together. Yeah. Do a couple of decades each month. I said they're doing a couple of decades each month. Right. Right. It's been really fun the way they put that together. And buildings and grounds. We are not a lot has happened, which is on the one hand a good thing that not a lot happens with buildings and grounds. We did have some air conditioning issues, but we got that addressed and we're still looking at some lock changes on the front door

and we're waiting on some construction quotes for leveling out by the back door, by the Erickson, Wayne B. Erickson entrance there on the lower level. We have uneven concrete down there that we want to get addressed for safety as well as water pooling. So, things to still work on, just getting a full listing of the computers and printers, some refurbishing of some display cases, and some shelving to add to the military room.

That's what we did up to. It's a history center. Yeah. Kind of winding down the summer season, but you still got all these activities that, again, looking forward to. So, bus tour next week, and like you said, with Visiboon County.

You're going to have that tour come in next week? Yes, it is. That's on Thursday the 20th. I'm not sure where all they're going. I'm pretty sure. I had that itinerary, but anyway, I know they're going multiple places. Typically, they go to Mimikawa, Eisenhower, and I think up to the railroad and those kind of things. So, that'll be good. They're coming, I think, at 12.45 to 1.45, and we usually split with the bakery, so it's not quite an onslaught. Half of the group goes to the bakery, half of the group comes to the history center, and then we flip flop at about a half an hour. Yeah. Keep working at it. Keep working at it. All right. So, again, until the end of the month on the Jordan tornado, if anybody hasn't seen that, stop by. Check that out. But plenty of things coming up as we get into September. Here we go. Marty, thanks so much for taking time visiting with us, letting us know what's happening, and keeping us up to date on the historical society. Once again, people, they do have meetings. What, the first Tuesday? Is it first Tuesday? Yep. First Tuesday of every month, open to the public. Typically, I mean, they start at six o'clock. We try to keep them to an hour, to an hour and a half. Just depends. Sometimes, you know, we try to stick to the agenda, but sometimes we get sidetracked. Try to keep them, and you can get up and leave anytime you want to if you've had enough.

Yeah. And if you attend a meeting, doesn't mean you have to be on the board or joined or anything else, but you can find out what's going on. Right, right. It's open to the public. So, yeah, totally. All right. Hey, Marty, you have a great one, and we'll talk to you again next time. Sounds good. Thanks so much. Bye-bye. Bye now. Marty LaMaurie, again, a board member with the Boone County Historical Society.