Five nominations were received for the 2011 Malstrom Award. Each is an excellent entry and, as always, nominees reflect only a small portion of the worthy projects done last year by our LOSCHO groups. Those nominated break new ground in research and interpretation of Snohomish County history. The order of the projects listed below is random. This year’s judge will be Eric Taylor, Heritage Lead for 4Culture of King County. The award will be announced and presented on March 17th at the Heritage Day & Malstrom Luncheon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Project Name: Interpretive Displays at Heritage Park Museum. (Interpretive Museum Displays) Sponsor: Alderwood Manor Heritage Association.
Description: The group recreated rooms in the upper floor of the Wickers building where the Wicker’s family once lived upstairs when it was their Alderwood Mercantile (Wickers Store) The exhibit includes stories of the Wickers Building and other buildings in Heritage Park. Lynnwood is located in an area that was originally called Alderwood Manor. Alderwood Manor was a planned community built by the Puget Mill Company after they logged off more than 6,000 acres prior to the 1920s. The project was a collaboration between AMHA, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society and the City of Lynnwood.
Project Name: Stuck In the Mud, The History of Warm Beach Washington by Penny Hutchison Buse. (a print publication) Sponsor:Â Stanwood Area Historical Society
Description: Stuck in the Mud: The History of Warm Beach, Washington is the first and only history of Warm Beach and is a substantial contribution to Snohomish County and regional history covering the place’s geography, biology, early explorers, the Port Susan Logging Company, Standard Oil, the building of a small town, the colorful people who made it happen and much more. Penny has done decades of research but Warm Beach is clearly “her place” and she brings much of her personal experience to the work. The book is an excellent read: 363 pages in length and illustrated with black and white and color images, published in 2011 by Penny Hutchison Buse, Fairwinds Writings at mARiTime, printed by Snohomish Publishing Company. While the book itself is a treasure, Penny has taken no money for its sale and has instead offered it as a fundraiser to the Stanwood Area Historical Society and other heritage groups.
Project Name: Chirouse: The Reverend Father Eugene Casimir Chirouse, Pioneer in Oregon and Washington Territories by Betty Gaeng. (a print and online publication).   Nomination by Sno-Isle Genealogical Society.
Description: CHIROUSE tells the story of Father Eugene Casimir Chirouse, O.M.I, a Catholic missionary whose life journey took him from his home country of France to the newly developing Oregon Territory (what became eastern Washington), the Puget Sound region, Tulalip and finally British Columbia. He is best remembered for his work among the Coast Salish of the Puget Sound region, particularly 21 years at the Tulalip Reservation. In Betty’s research, she has uncovered and presented information previously unknown to readers. and offers this writing as both a printed book and online publication http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wasigs/chirouse.htm
Project Name: Converting Historic Newspapers into Research Assets. Sponsor: Granite Falls Historical Society. Fred Cruger, Project Director.
Description: Granite Falls Historical Society undertook a newspaper digitization project beginning in 2010 and completed in 2011. 10,000 pages of Granite Falls newspapers (1922-1970s) were converted into text-searchable electronic files, making it possible to easily retrieve mentions of a particular family, business, or topic, whether in news articles, social columns, editorials, or advertisements. The project was done through Small Town Newspapers and funded in part with two grants from the Snohomish County Heritage Preservation Commission, the remainder of the funds provided by Granite Falls Historical Society
Project Name: Monroe 2011 Veterans Day Event and Exhibit. Sponsor: Monroe Historical Society. Project Manager Butch Ohlsen.
Project Description: This year local veteran Butch Ohlsen and the Monroe Historical Society held a special Veterans Day remembrance. The day also marked the opening of the exhibit “Vietnam Remembered: Veterans Stories†in the Monroe Historical Museum, curated by Ohlsen and Chris Bee . Publicity about the event and exhibit, produced by Historical Society member Tami Beaumont , brought a crowd of nearly 400 people who braved a miserable cold, windy, rainy afternoon for the hour-long ceremony, after which about 100 visitors crowded into the museum to see the new exhibit. Vets who had never talked about their service, even to family members, opened up with each other that afternoon. The exhibit brought to light items that soldiers carried home from Vietnam, most of which had been packed away and forgotten for 45 years. Those items were joined by memorabilia saved by the families. Oral histories document survivors’ stories. Notebooks containing photos and documents for each soldier rounded out the exhibit.
The book provides new or unique historic information, interpretation or discoveries by presenting a comprehensive history of an often-overlooked area of Snohomish County. It contributes to the preservation or interpretation of Snohomish County history by documenting Warm Beach’s significant events and changes over time, as recorded in the public record, and by adding the author’s personal views as asides throughout the text. By preserving the area’s history in one far-reaching volume, the author has created a valuable reference for future researchers. The author has made use of best museum, research or digital practices as evidenced by the book’s extensive bibliography and conscientious attention to illustration credits. The publication demonstrates an effective collaboration with other community organizations by including relevant material from local, regional, state, and international archives. In addition, the partnership with the Stanwood Area Historical Society contributes to the growth of community heritage resources. The author has made creative use of resources by producing a final manuscript that, in all likelihood, far surpasses the scope of the original project. Penny Hutchison Buse has done an outstanding job of weaving together documents, photographs, and recollections into an easily approachable local history that obviously is a labor of love. “Stuck In The Mud†promises to be a valuable and treasured Snohomish County historical resource for years to come.”