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Beatty Museum and Historical Society

May / June 1996

History Section on page 2

Message from the President
Claudia Reidhead

Hi folks! I'm back, thanks to all of you for voting for me. We have a great board this time, all of them are active and we are lucky to have them with us. On to more interesting news. The kids who vandalized the cemetery have had their first hearing and will be sentenced on April 15. (LATE BREAKING NEWS! - Two young men were sentenced April 15, a fine of $2,000.00 and 100 hours of community service. One traded the 100 hours of community service at $10.00 per hour because of a move to Elko nevada and will pay a total of $3,000.00. The third young man is still at large and has not responded to the summons from the Nye County sheriff Office and the District Attorney.)

March was a very busy month for us as Mary Revert and I had been sewing costumes and bazaar items for weeks for the Bazaar. Ellen Boehringer made all of our hats (we call her our "Mad Hatter"), she is so talented. When March 16th arrived we had hats for everyone and we were all in costume, including Zettia Miller and Linda White who were here for the Rhyolite Festival. We opened a temporary exhibit on the 16th & 17th and it was very well received.

We borrowed the Lorraine Perry Thomas collection of photos from UNLV, photos covering the eras from the early teens through the thirties with some great photos of Pioneer as a living town. Bob and Mary Revert loaned the exhibit a wonderful roll phonograph from the early 1900's, a sewing machine and tools, a couple of Iron mortar and pestles that had been used in the labs of the era. Stock certificates, magazines, newspapers and pamphlets that Bill and Zettia Miller have contributed made a great display. On loan from Gloria Shearer were some wonderful beaded handbags, one of them from Rhyolite and a showcase piece, Anna Beatty's watch.

Displayed courtesy of Larry and Vonnie Gray were bottles from Rhyolite, RR property line post, various tools and they loaned some oak display cases. Walk-in friends who came back bringing items for display were Sue Boschert who brought in the washboard that was used by "Sandy" Sanbournes mother in the very early days and that great friend "Anonymous" loaned us an ore car manufacturers tag from one of the ore cars in the Montgomery Shoshone Mine. Also on display were flat irons, various tools, melting pots, RR spikes, mine spikes, 1902 apple juicer, and blacksmith tools.

Thank you Barbara Piatt for your Bazaar idea that turned into a very successful week-end that gained us some new members and brought in over $500.00. Thank you also to Kim Hickenbotham who represented us so wonderfully at Rhyolite. You were great and Ellen and I are very proud of you. To Bev Coffee who put in many hours hosting at the exhibit and bazaar and she also baked a cake that she never even got to put on the table before it sold. To Carol Monk for baking a cake. To Chloe Lisle for baking a cake and all the things you do for us, we appreciate you.

Yours truly along with Mary Revert and Vonnie Gray had our temporary museum opened for two week-ends in April and grossed over $200.00 in coffee cup sales and donations. The museum will be open on the second week-end of each month and perhaps at other times for special occasions. The photo exhibit will change quite often in the museum.

We want to congratulate Clint and Ellen Boehringer as they were selected among the top seven volunteers in the country. Tracy Pharo from the BLM Office in Tonopah wrote the letter recommending them. The award was presented to them April 25th in Washington, D.C. by the Secretary of the Interior, attended by the Senator and Representatives of Oregon and their grandson Brian. They also attended a breakfast given by Nevada's Senator Reid. The award honors their volunteer work at Rhyolite for the last four winters as caretakers of the Bottle House and their work to help preserve the history and spread the word among visitors of how precious the memories of the past are. The visitation has grown from only a few hundred the first winter they were there to over 17,000 people at the Bottle house this winter, each of whom either Clint or Ellen spoke to personally, telling the story of the house and town with humor and pride. They have studied the history of the town exhaustively and enjoy telling it's story and enjoy promoting preservation of historic places.

Karen Bohmer is a special member of our group working for the Chamber of Commerce. She keeps us informed on what is going on in the town. We love you Karen and are glad that you are back in the office. I guess that about says it all for this time with a final note that our second annual "Picnic in the Park" will be August 17th so mark your calendar and watch for upcoming news with all the details. Bye for this time.

"RIBITS' from the editor ....Bullfrog Billy

Our recent visit to Beatty, March 15th-18th, was most enjoyable. We attended a variety of activities pertaining to the annual Rhyolite Festival and enjoyed the Bazaar and Museum displays by BMHS. A lot of hard work was involved in getting things ready for the Bazaar and the Museum display. It really was the proof in the pudding that BMHS is comprised of people who are dedicated, sincere and will be there in the future. Just think for a moment about the fact the BMHS is not yet officially one year old and already we have over 60 members, have conducted an election, produced seven newsletters, had a float in a parade, a picnic in the park, put on a fashion show, put on a bazaar and opened up a temporary museum. None of this was accomplished by somebody yelling "Siesta Time." Now ask yourself if you ain't just "Plum-tickled" to be a part of all this?

Some of you will be receiving membership renewal notices with this newsletter. I won't waste time asking, pleading or begging you to be very prompt about renewing. this organization stands on its record for all to see and if you like what you see you'll not only fill out the renewal form, you'll try and fetch us a new member or two. I like to call this the beginning of "Project 101%" which means everyone renews when their time comes and tries to recruit more members. This issue features the conclusion of "Boom Times" in the History section as well as the usual assorted goodies. Next issue will feature the "Bullfrog Red Oak Mining Co." and also another "Who's Who in Nevada." If you would be interested in doing some research for our History section please don't hesitate to call us.

Congrats to Clint & Ellen Boehringer for their BLM award. While they are in Washington D.C., why not make them President and the First Lady. Now it is time for the de-frogging process so you can get into this issue, so until the next time....."Ribit-Ribit"


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