The Ron Gordon Memorial George Washington Art Contest was held last year and is scheduled this year for Sunday, February 23, 2025, when the children’s art work from the Washington Elementary School will be on display at the Museum from 1 To 4 PM. This will be our 14th year for the contest. We will have 27 students participating and we treat them to a pizza lunch at the Museum on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. Tours of the Museum follow lunch and we give each of the finalists a package of information. The three winners, one from each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades will receive a Barnes and Noble gift card and the overall winner will receive an additional gift card from Meijer's.
On April 12, 2024, the Historical Society celebrated an inaugural Anniversary Dinner where six residents/businesses were honored for their contributions in various categories to the benefit of the Society and the Township. The honorees were Ira “Jim” Holcomb, Romeo Family Restaurant, Johnson Controls, Dana Hepner, Preceptor Delta Beta Sorority and Verellen Orchards. The event was very successful with almost 190 people in attendance at The Abbey in Romeo.
Our Super Sunday event, the 46th show, was held on June 2, 2024. We had about 15 crafters on the lawn at the Museum. The Museum was open for tours. We had music by the group Malachi Crunch. A plant sale and a silent auction were also held.
The third Golf Outing as a fund raiser for replacing the roof at the Museum was held on June 12, 2024, at the Greystone Golf Club. The event was again quite successful and, with the additional funds from the event, we were able to schedule the replacement of the roof in July. We still need to replace the gutters at the Museum as we did not have sufficient funds to include gutters with the roof replacement.
The work to replace the roof at the Old Washington School, the Museum, was started on July 17, 2024, and completed on July 20, 2024. The roof was removed by the Atlas Service Group. The entire roof was sheeted and shingles installed by Seal Tight Construction. As the cement based shingles contained asbestos, special procedures had to be used to remove and dispose of the roofing material. Two layers of roofing were removed as the top layer was installed over cedar shingles. As one area was cleared, the roofing company installed plywood sheeting and then new asphalt shingles to cover the area. The weather was excellent for the project except for one period where there was a brief rainfall on the first day. The timing and cooperation between the two companies was exceptional.
And the Museum has a new roof in 2024 as a result of three Golf Outings, grants from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and the Four County Community Foundation, the many fund raising activities of the Historical Society over the last four years and so many, many contributions of local businesses and individuals. The Greater Washington Area Historical Society greatly appreciates the support that has provided a successful conclusion to our “Raise the Roof” project. The efforts and talents of Cherie Allen, Terry Goike and Sam Previti are especially noted for the work needed to complete the project.
The year was concluded with used books sales at the Museum in August, September and October. In October, we held an Appraisal Day where people came with items seeking to know the value and perhaps discover a hidden treasure of which they were not aware. There still are items lost to be found.
The Society also sponsored a page in the calendar for 2025 titled “Hidden Treasures in Ray, Romeo & Washington” which featured pictures of items in collections from the Friends of the Ray Township Library and Historical Society, the Romeo Historical Society and the Greater Washington Area Historical Society. The annual calendar has been a joint effort of the three organizations for several years to educate and preserve history of the area.
Hidden treasures are not only those unique items on the back shelf of a library or museum but also in the friendships of people. We have lost two very long time members and friends of the Society in the year 2024. They were Jean Holcomb and Thomas Simpson. Jean was one of the people in a meeting at the Loren Andrus Octagon House that led to the formation of the Society and contributed her time and talents over many years. Tom Simpson went to school in the Old Washington School building and was our membership coordinator and website contact for many years.
Mark Fobare is the coordinator of the John Dyer-Hurdon Scout Museum and has assisted with several Eagle Scout projects which help to improve the Museum and preserve our local history. A current project is to add shelving in the Scout Museum with Nathan Kaziol and Dade Decator. Other work has been accomplished by Darin Decator who completed a project to add lighted glass shelves. Logan Budny added beautiful frames for our 911 Memorial Flag and for a Mt Vernon Church banner. Our bathroom was remodeled by Tyler Yurconis in August of 2024. The work and contributions of the Eagle Scout projects to the Society are greatly appreciated.
Of note, the Society celebrates our 50th anniversary in 2025. The Society was incorporated in 1975 by a group of residents who did not want to see the Old Washington School disappear and were able to obtain a lease from Romeo Community Schools for the building. Many individuals are responsible for what has been accomplished to preserve a small part of the history on display at the Museum. There is more to do!