The Board of Directors of the Friends of the Ferguson Home met May 28 to discuss recent changes.
First, we regretfully accepted the resignation of Connie Burcham as President, She is moving back to Florida, The Board expresses deep appreciation to Connie who, in late 2022, stepped up to help fill board vacancies as president, Her steady leadership is greatly appreciated, Second, Mary Larson has asked to be relieved as treasurer because of her new and demanding job, Again, we appreciate Mary’s expert service, Third and lastly, we accepted the resignation of Hunter Martinez as site director/docent, His new job is very demanding, and he is unable to maintain the Saturday/Sunday time as site director/docent.
While these are big voids to fill, the good news is we already have volunteers willing to fill the board vacancies. The bylaws provide that the vice president, Michelle Mendenhall, will step into the president’s role until board elections in November, The board greatly appreciates Michelle’s willingness to step into the president’s role, The by-laws also provide the board can appoint a vice president, and Roy Espy has expressed interest in accepting the role of vice president, Finally, Crystal Campos-Perez has expressed interest in replacing Mary as treasurer, At this time, however, we do not have a museum director, An application for director is available on the Facebook page and web sites listed below, This is a responsible position that serves as the face of the Friends of the Ferguson Home Museum as we care for and present the museum collection, present cultural and educational activities, and maintain the museum under a lease agreement with the City of Watonga, the owner of the facilities.
In the past, we had two people fill staff roles to have the museum open four days per week (most recently Thursday-Sunday), The museum director must have knowledge or be willing to learn the important history of the Ferguson Home, jail and military facility, They must be able to lead tours to inform and excite individuals, students, and groups, As a not-for profit 501(c)(3), the beginning salary is about $12/hour.
Additional skills will be useful: Writing newspap er/magazine articles/grants, plan strategically with the board, prepare budgets, encourage group tours from around Oklahoma and nearby states, plan or support activities and special events including educational, cultural and fundraising activities, interact with diverse populations and work with local government, posting on www.facebook/fergusonhomemuseum and potentially on our web site: www. fergusonhomemuseum. org are important parts of communication.
For additional information, see Michelle Mendenhall, Todd Lafferty or Joe Bryan