SULTAN — Iris Jensen is working to pass down the history of the Sky Valley to the next generation and beyond.
Jensen, 73, has been volunteering for more than two decades at the Sky Valley Historical Museum in Sultan. She also serves as president of the local historical society, which runs the free museum.
“The Sultan museum is the biggest little museum in the Sky Valley,” Jensen said. “It’s big in the amount and the quality of the displays and little because it’s all volunteer-run.”
But it wasn’t always that way. When Jensen first came to the museum 23 years ago, she found artifacts scattered about.
“It wasn’t real eye-catching,” she said.
Jensen and a handful of other volunteers went to work, organizing the items and building exhibits. Today the museum boasts a number of displays, including those that showcase the area’s farming, mining and logging history.
“That, of course, honors Sultan’s main industries,” Jensen said.
The museum is full of antique toys, fashion displays, medical exhibits, military paraphernalia and home scenes from the 1800s to the 1940s. There’s memorabilia from the local general store, bank, church, theater and school, including senior photos.
“People like to come in and find their grandma,” Jensen said.
The volunteers worked to verify the accuracy of the historical information contained in the museum. They enlisted the help of a researcher to confirm facts and figures for local history books.
Now volunteers are undertaking a new project. Historical information is being entered into a computer database. That will allow volunteers to more easily search and access information about the museum’s artifacts.
The museum is looking for more people who can help enter records into the computer. The hope is to have the project completed in the near future.
To raise money for museum projects and maintenance, volunteers are raffling a quilt. They’ll be selling $1 tickets throughout the year at local businesses, bazaars and the museum.
The quilt is a 1930s double-wedding-ring design with hand-stitched detail. It is a double-bed size, with shades of blue, green, maroon and white.
The raffle is set for next Nov. 17 at the museum, but people do not have to be there to win.
Museum volunteers also take on other projects, including collecting money each year for a college scholarship awarded to a Sultan high school senior. Last year, they put together a self-guided historical walking tour through the city. People can pick up brochures to start the tour across the street from the museum at the visitor center at 320 Main St.
The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays and the third Saturday of the month. It is located above the Sultan post office, on the corner of Fourth and Main streets.
For more information or to volunteer, call 360-793-0534.
Jensen said she enjoys welcoming people to the museum who have come to look at items from the “good ole days.” She has long been involved in preserving the history of the Sky Valley. Before she started volunteering in Sultan, she worked with the Monroe Historical Society. Jensen said learning about the past and sharing it with others is the greatest reward for her effort.
“I just enjoy history,” she said. “You can see the changes that have come. To me, that’s amazing.”
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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