By: Duane St. Clair
The Pickerington-Violet Township Historical Society is slowly but steadily trying to make the Olde Carnegie Library Museum in Historic Olde Pickerington a better-known place.
A dedicated group of residents with an abiding interest in the area’s history is moving to get the word out that it’s a museum worth visiting and admission is free.
“We are one of the best kept secrets in town,” says Gary Taylor, society president.
In May, groups of third-graders from the six Pickerington elementary schools made field trips that included a stop in the museum. Taylor, a fourth generation Pickerington resident, presented a short slideshow about the community and its forefathers, including artifacts representing Pickerington and Violet Township’s past.Volunteers told the kids about various artifacts in four areas of the museum.
During school tours or public visiting hours, volunteers are on hand to answer questions but are not stationed in specific areas to offer explanations about various historic pieces located in the museum.
Among those artifacts are a pump that was in the center of town for horses, a wheelbarrow that was used to haul mail two blocks from the train station to the post office and a kerosene lamp that illuminated streets in the business district. Hundreds of other items, including a collage of members of every Pickerington High School graduating class from 1911 to 1982 (when the practice ended) are displayed.
Taylor says the society occasionally buys items when “older folks are auctioning off stuff” and receives donations of historical items from estates being closed. For example, a former resident bought, restored and donated a potbelly stove that was used in one of the township’s one-room schools.
Rita Ricketts, a society member since its formation in 1987 and the museum’s current curator, as well as a mayor in the 1980s, when the town was still a village, hopes youngsters who make specially arranged tours help stir interest in the museum by bringing parents and grandparents when it’s open to the public.
Because there aren’t many volunteers, the museum is usually open to the public only on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, it has added more openings this summer for the first time as it strives for more recognition. In conjunction with the Olde Pickerington Village Business Association, the museum welcomes visitors from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. during “First Friday” events held by some businesses. (The August business association event is a Saturday morning flea market on Aug. 7.) Taylor says the society’s purpose is to generate more interest in the museum and getting more volunteers to help.
Joan Heft, widow of long-time Pickerington Local School District superintendent and coach Don Heft, has been part of the society since its founding and has been on the board for 20 years.
“They won’t let me go,” she jokes, adding, “When they can’t find something (at the museum,) they call me.” Heft has been very active in organizing and maintaining the museum. “I’d rather do that than clean house,” she adds.
According to Rita, society members hope attracting new faces to their ranks will help build the organization’s prominence in the community.
“We’ve tried to get interest in our group. To be honest, we’re getting old,” she says. “We have some young people coming in, such as Peggy Portier, who has been a member for a couple years.”
Portier says her interest was piqued when she volunteered with the bicentennial celebration in 2008. Now the Pickerington resident is the museum historian who has helped assemble information and illustrations for the society’s website. “We’re coming into the 20th century,” she jokes. The rebuilt website now offers order forms that can be printed and used to acquire souvenirs.
The museum is supported in part by proceeds from the sale of souvenirs depicting the area’s history. Pie plates, salt crocks, water pitchers, coasters and some China are among them. There are also coverlets with various views of Olde Pickerington and Cat’s Meow painted wooden replicas of various historic community buildings.
The society also has two books available for purchase. A small one, The Violets Still Bloom, was written by John Ricketts, Rita’s husband.
John also co-authored Violet Township Through 200 Years, a longer hardbound book written for the bicentennial in 2008. The Violets is $12 and Violet Township is $20.
The society doesn’t charge admission to the museum and is partly sustained by memberships: $10 annually for families, $7.50 for individuals. Taylor says there are currently about 120 memberships.
Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor for Pickerington Magazine.