Seated (from left) Christine Mahan and her sister surrounded by fellow museum volunteers. Standing: David Whitlock, Leonard Irish, Teddy Hopkins, Venora McSwain, Pharbreece Havis, Vickie Martin, and Peaches Conway.
July 2, 2018 - During an open house for the official opening of the World War I exhibit at the Shelby County Museum, Christine Mahan was the guest of honor and was recognized for her years of faithful and dedicated service to the museum.
Larry Hume, VFW Post 8904 Quartermaster, helped the Shelby County Historical Society (SCHS) with the setup of the World War I display and was designated to read a card from the museum volunteers, "A sincere thank you is not sufficient to tell you how much we appreciate your many years of service to this museum. Your dedication to Shelby County history has flourished because of your many hours of work and research. You will be highly missed and come back any time, to help any time!"
Mahan, a 26-year volunteer at the museum, said, "I just really appreciate the honor. But, you know when I moved here in 1990 there were two things I wanted to do. One of them was to work at the museum and the other one was to take art from Woodrow Foster and I got to do both of those. It took a while but anyways once I started here there was no looking back. There was always something to do and the thing that I enjoyed more than anything else was helping people with their genealogy and we do have a rich history here in Shelby County and I love to see people take advantage of it."
The open house was for the new display setup for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I which is November 11th of this year. The museum has setup a display recognizing all Shelby County veterans who served in World War I or veterans who were not from Shelby County but they are now buried in Shelby County. In total, the display represents 887 veterans of World War I.
Attendees look over the names of the veterans recognized in the museum's new World War I exhibit.
Hume said on behalf of the VFW Post 8904 and the auxiliary, "We are going to have a program on November 11th, we realize its a Sunday, but still its November 11th and you only get a chance to do 100 years one time. We are going to have it in the Shelby County Historic Courthouse at 1pm. Let everybody go to church, then come back, we hope you all come." He also encouraged everyone to bring some young people and let them know what Veteran's Day is all about.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 1pm until 4pm. Come find your World War I family member.
Venora McSwain invited anyone who would like to volunteer at the museum from 1pm to 4pm Monday through Friday to stop by and see them. They sure would appreciate the help. For more information, visit online the Shelby County Texas Historical Society at www.shelbycountytexashistory.net
Christine Mahan surrounded by her family.
