Signs and Dreams

You are invited to the Entiat Community Historical Society's Opening Day 2025 on Saturday, May 17 at 10:00 till noon at the North Shelter of the Entiat Park! Quail Run Bluegrass will be performing and if you remember from 2023, they are amazing!! Quail Run consists of Michael Johnson and Lu Ann Price, a guitar and mandolin duet playing folk, country and bluegrass tunes along with some original songs. Michael and Lu Ann are seasoned performers who, over the decades, performed with many bluegrass bands and at numerous festivals and events across Washington and Oregon. They are known for their tight harmonies and instrumentals as well as their engaging personalities and connection with the audience. Bring your own chair and spend the morning with us! Join us to tour the museum in the afternoon and then head to Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center for Firefest!

We are pleased to also announce that we will be hosting the very talented Chelan musician Mac Potts on Saturday, May 31. Please check out his webpage here. Mac Potts Music | Chelan & Vancouver Musician

On Saturday, June 7, we are bringing author Pat West Turner to the museum for a book signing and discussion about her book, Skiing Uphill: a Story of Strength and Perserverance.

Over 55 years ago, Albert "Shorty" Long began the important work to collect and preserve the stories of people whose fates and dreams brought them to the Entiat Valley. We will forever miss the warm and intelligent leadership of Shorty's two oldest children - Peggy Whitmore and her older brother Wayne Long, as well the many other good people of Entiat who have gone before us. Their presence is felt in all that we do. The projects we have accomplished this year are thanks to the seeds planted and nourished by Wayne, Peggy, and others.

We are so proud of the beautiful new signs for the Albert Long Museum and Mercantile on our freshly painted buildings.! Many thanks to the City of Entiat and to Donna Kestler of D*Signs for the new signage, and a huge thank you to Gary and Mike who donated their time and skills restoring the siding and paint. We are so grateful Entiat Fire District 8 crew for their help in moving the piano to its new location. Not only do we have a fresh new look for the Museum and Mercantile, but a new tool barn. We hope to be good stewards of the many artifacts and interpreters of the life stories of those who have lived in the Entiat Valley

Two years ago, on our Opening Day, Wendell George reminded us as he offered the smoke ceremony at the dedication of the "Last Chief Standing" exhibit that

"We are all part of nature... All of us are stardust. We are tied in with everything - trees, animals, rocks, rivers... And when you are all tied in together like that, you are not going to hurt anybody. You will be kind and helpful to everybody."

Our dreamy new bookshelves tell a story of that reminder. A few months ago, John Barnes offered the museum lumber salvaged by him and Jordan Pittsinger from the collapsed barn on the old Delbert Whitehall farm, later Megan and Keith's place and now Tumbleroot Farm. The boards were locally milled at the Harris Mill, from trees that grew in the surrounding forest. Fir tree saplings grew to towering trees witnessing seasons and years in the valley. They now hold the stories of people who shared those seasons of growth in the same room as the "Last Chief Standing" exhibit and Dale Sanford's magnificent painting of the logging truck and crew. We are so grateful for trees and all that they give to us every day.

Museums are institutes of growth. The search for accurate history, compelling stories, and connection with the past is best endeavored in a place where there is an ongoing effort to enlighten our human experience. We are continuing to grow with the Volunteer Museum Learning Community under the leadership of the Washington Museum Association. We are so very grateful for our leaders and mentors. Allison Campbell with the Washington State Historical Society and Kristen Heidenthal of the Washington Museum Association have given us a better understanding of how to best serve our community as the ECHS and tools to help us.

There are many others to thank, too numerous to list here. I must tell you how much I appreciate our ECHS board and volunteers for their generous donation of time and for their ambitious attitude and effort. They are each and all truly amazing!

We welcome you to join us as a member and know that our most important accomplishment is to bring our community closer and to help each of us learn from history how best to live in the present and be good caretakers and mentors for future generations. This season we will be open at the museum every Saturday until Labor Day from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Come by soon and and visit often!