Friends of museum ignored

Dear editor:

Something's afoot at the museum.

It is my understanding that this spring the Friends of the Museum petitioned the Board of Directors of the Mountain Home Historical Society to have their volunteers, as a group, be recognized as an auxiliary of the organization. We all know what "auxiliary" members of any institution contribute: THEY DO ALL OF THE HARD WORK.

In fact, without the efforts of the Friends of the Museum, the city wouldn't have a functioning museum at all. When we moved here 11 years ago, the museum was a closed storage building for a chaotic hodgepodge of dusty, dirty documents and artifacts that hadn't been seen by the public in ages, if ever.

Through the exhausting, years-long efforts of Laurice Bentz and her volunteers, the building is now clean, organized, catalogued and open for viewing and many community activities -- particularly those activities that provide educational and historical enrichment for children.

I had the opportunity to read the letter from the Board of Directors, dated March 31, 2008, and addressed to the Friends of the Museum, rejecting the Friends' petition to be designated as an auxiliary. No CLEAR justification was given for the rejection. The letter simply stated that "the Friends of the Museum will not be recognized as a separate entity under the current framework."

What FRAMEWORK dismisses volunteer support so offhandedly?

The letter closes with "We sincerely hope you will continue AS INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS (my emphasis)... to support the growth and the success of the museum."

As individuals, but not as a group? What am I missing in all this?

Sandy Pitts