Opportunities galore

Yes, those hardworking quilters are back at it on Fridays in the old school house. There is laughter, and discussion, and a few complaints about the particular pattern we are sewing but then everyone laughs about the complaining because really it is such a treat to be back together and quilting.

We have a pile of tied quilts made of the softest flannel in case you are thinking of winter (it is bound to arrive one of these days). You can stop by the school house on Fridays between 10am – 3pm to look over these very affordable quilts and buy one to take home. We also have baby quilts, scrubbies and potholders for sale – all made by women here at the Historical Village.

As we line out our quilting for the season, we have space later in the year to quilt a top for you! Perhaps there is one you made years ago that you never got around to quilting, or you inherited one from a family member and the fabric is delicate enough it deserves to be hand quilted. Stop by to find out how we can help you with this project.

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still a bit more

In the Tobacco Valley, we all just finished up a truly delightful whirlwind weekend of bazaars.  So many wonderful ones to visit from Riverstone Lodge to Trego Hall.  No doubt you picked up many wonderful gifts, but if there happens to be someone on your list you are still missing, the Historical Village bazaar continues this Friday (12/13) and next (12/20).  Warm hand-tied quilts in thick flannel, scrubbies, homemade biscotti, embroidered dishtowels, huckleberry jam, baby quilts and more. Stop by either Friday from 10am – 3pm.

Perhaps you have all your holiday shopping finished up, but are considering donations before this year ends?  The Tobacco Valley Board of History always appreciates your support.  We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit and will promptly send a thank you for your records acknowledging your thoughtful gift.

The Tobacco Valley Board of History truly appreciates the support from everyone in the valley and those individuals who live other places who help us maintain our community’s history.  Thank you for stopping by our Christmas bazaar, attending Pint Night at HA brewery, sending in memberships, volunteering and helping in so many ways to keep the Historical Village a very special place in Eureka.

PO Box 1452. Eureka, MT 59917

It is an art

What do New York City, Gee’s Bend, Alabama and Eureka, Montana have in common?  Beautiful handmade quilts.  On a recent trip to the Big Apple, I was fortunate enough to see an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled Souls Grown Deep.  Part of this exhibit featured quilts from Gee’s Bend, Alabama.  In 1998, folk art collector William Arnett happened to be going through a small town in southern Alabama and noticed quilts on clotheslines.  They were so striking, he stopped to get information about them and eventually bought some.  Later he arranged for over seventy quilts made by the women in Gee’s Bend to be part of an exhibit that traveled nationally. They were shown in art museums from Washington, DC to San Francisco, from Houston to Boston.  There are books and videos about these quilts and the women who made them.  In 2006, the US Postal Service even came out with a set of postage stamps that featured images of the quilts.  So for me, it was a remarkable moment to stand in the Met and see six of them displayed.  I was so tempted to touch them, lift a corner to see what the back quilting looked like, run my fingers over the colors. But of course I didn’t.

Standing there brought so many thoughts and emotions about the women in Gee’s Bend, about the women who sew quilts in the Historical Village, about the fabrics used in all of these quilts, the friendships as quilters sit together sewing, the designs, the stitches, the talk.  Especially this time of year as fall sets in and the quilters at the Historical Village begin meeting on Fridays, we get into a rhythm that will take us through the winter and into spring.  Here in Eureka, those of us who quilt with this group are ready to start up again.  Whether our quilts will ever grace the walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art doesn’t matter.  Mostly we want our stitches to be even and the knots hidden.

Thank you Eureka!

This past Friday it snowed. A lot. And it didn’t look good. It wasn’t just the fact that most of us are tired of winter by this point, but the concern that bad roads might hamper people coming to the fundraiser in Trego on Saturday afternoon.  Saturday though dawned better with a bit of sun and so our anticipation became more optimistic.  But you never know do you with these community events if there will be enough people, if its possible to even make the costs of putting the thing on let alone raise funds to help support the Historical Village?  On top of the weather and other unknowns, there were questions about the event itself. We hadn’t really done anything quite like this before. A concert with a band from out of the area (actually The Wardens are from Canada so out of the country!) with a potluck and community jam to follow.  We had decided to do it in Trego because the hall there is so nice with great acoustics and a large kitchen, plus enough space if we did get a real turn out.  But would we? Would people drive from Eureka on snowy roads to support the Historical Village and enjoy this potentially great event?

Al went out early that day to get a fire going so the hall would be warm.  He also plowed the parking lot (thank you so much!).  The band arrived around 1:30 to start setting up.  Quilters and John Linn came a little later to hang quilts and set up tables for selling some handmade items.  With the concert scheduled to begin at 4:00pm, one might hope people would start to show up at 3:30ish but it started very slow.  Finally around 3:45 cars began to pull in and then more cars.  We had to set up extra chairs.  When people were still coming through the door at 4:00, the band decided to start a few minutes late.  What a fabulous turnout!  Over seventy people came to listen to great music, potluck with neighbors and then hang a bit for the jam.  Some people played music, some danced, some talked with friends, some met new people, some tried new foods (Dawn’s outrageous Bhutan momos).

It isn’t only the wonderful turn out but the energy people brought to the event that made it such a great evening.  Lots of laughter and hugs.  We sold a quilt and a box of Mary Louise’s homemade chocolates.  Some folks generously wrote checks to support the Historical Village.  Others asked for information to learn more about the Tobacco Valley Board of History.  And the help that made this all possible!  From John climbing his 10′ ladder to hang quilts to Mike washing dishes and Mircea mopping the floor.  Everyone pitched in to set up chairs and then at the end of the evening, to put chairs away.  Ray got the jam circle going, Ed helped the band carry their things out to the van, Patty and Darrell took trash bags to the dumpsters.  What a special evening…what a special community.  Thank you, Eureka!

A touch of blue

This time of year in northwest Montana, any glimpse of blue sky has everyone smiling.  Even while focused on stitching, the women look up in unison when light through the old school house windows gets slightly brighter with a break in the clouds.  January not only brought us a few snatches of sun, but also three new Tobacco Valley Board of History volunteers. Not quite enough for all that needs to be done but certainly a good start.  Magdalena is new to the area and a great fit for helping with displays as she wants to learn more about local history.  Michelle has the energy to help out with the grounds and the shrubbery once we get into spring.  Ya’aqov, a retired librarian, is learning to maintain the archives from Cathryn. And having these three awesome individuals step up, encourages us to think there just might be others in the community who want to help maintain our local heritage.

Perhaps though people have other ideas about what to do with their spare time? Maybe they see maintaining artifacts, photographs and historical buildings from the Tobacco Valley as frivolous.  Why think about the past when there are sufficient worries for the present? And don’t even mention the future!  But our past has a lot to offer, not only to school children who come each spring to visit the exhibits or the tourists who pass through on summer afternoons, but to all of us.

Some locals lament about lack of business in the area and how the town is going to dry up.  The old newspapers in the Historical Village files tell of the same sentiment numerous times throughout the town’s history. But there has always been something new that came along.  Eureka was once the Christmas tree capital and there was logging.  There were the years when the Libby dam and the train tunnel were built that brought many new people and jobs to this area.  There were opportunities and change and dry spells and then new opportunities appeared.

The files show how the Tobacco Valley News, our local newspaper that still comes out weekly, got started.  There are articles telling about how the valley first got internet and the volunteers who helped set it up.  A computer shop now occupies the building where the office supply store used to be (a business now farther up the road in a larger space), and the same building that used to house the newspaper (which moved behind the bank).  Things change for sure but there are things to be learned from the changes.  How can we make transitions easier?  Where do new ideas for our town come from?  How have great additions to the valley come about in the past?  What can we use from those experiences to continue to make this a place where we want to be?

 

Thank you

Are there enough hours in the day to thank everyone who helps in this community? We held our annual fundraiser for the Historical Village last Saturday.  A lovely five course dinner with a Spanish theme served at a private residence on Dickey Lake.  A cellist played during the evening, some volunteers prepared the food while others served it.  As part of the event, a small speech was made later during the meal to thank those who bought tickets, to those who provided the wine, prepared the meal, those who set out tables and chairs for forty people.  At an earlier point in the evening, before the first guests appeared, I took a photo of those wonderful women who served the dinner and helped sell tickets prior to the event.

If I count everyone including the couple who helped move the tables, the man who cleaned the terrace, the woman who brought over forty chairs, the next door neighbor who lent us use of  her oven, the owners of the house where the dinner was held, the friend who gave us green beans from her garden for the paella, it would be over seventy people who participated in some way to make this event successful.  And really this is a fraction of all those who help maintain the Historical Village throughout the year.

We might take it for granted that people help out in a small town.  How else can we maintain the museum and the park, run the Scout troop and Little League, do storytime at the local library and walk dogs at the animal shelter? So much that makes this valley great depends on volunteers. And we realize not all small towns have this wealth.  We are fortunate to have people in this valley who truly care.

Recently there was a wild fire near Eureka.  Some people were required to evacuate their homes.  Neighbors offered housing, storage, and pasture for animals for those who had to evacuate. Others donated water and food for the fire fighters.  There was so much donated that the surplus was given to the local food bank.  For all of this, the generosity offered during the fire as well as the generosity shown towards the fundraising dinner – we offer thanks.

Teetering on Summer

The current quilt is nearly done.  Last week four women sewed on it while others prepared for the rummage sale that happens on May 19th.  The week following that we convert the space we quilted in all winter back into the museum that it will be during the summer.  From Memorial Day until Labor Day, people can tour the buildings at the Historical Village – the old church, the school house, the first cabin and the various other ones.  The lawn’s rich greenness will beckon children to roll around and young people to sit and talk about life.  Families will gather at the picnic tables and the cyclists camping in Riverside Park will come over to walk around the grounds.

Yes, this time of year is a clear reminder of why we quilt. To raise funds to keep these buildings and the grounds in good condition so they can be enjoyed and so that locals as well as tourists can learn about the history of our valley.  During the winter it sometimes feels we quilt for our own pleasure as its such a treat to sit around the quilting frame talking quietly with the other women, laughing over Bev’s jokes or smiling when Bonnie arrives with her banana bread.  We are there together on Fridays because it is the ideal place to be for those of us who show up.  But now in late spring when we transition the place we quilt in back into the museum space, its a reminder.  We are quilting to maintain the buildings and the history.  The fact that we enjoy the quilting so much, is really just a perk.

Its finding a balance some of us look for in life.  Giving to make our community (however we define that) the best possible place and at the same time taking pleasure in what we do.  I see Scout leaders in our community give time to do projects and go camping with the boys.  Or the group of people who organize the weekly community soup night, finish up Tuesdays at 7:30pm exhausted.  But these individuals as well as the women quilting, also enjoy aspects of what they give.  The women savor Fridays’ quilting.  The Scout leaders appreciate their time in the forests hiking with the young people.  I watch the soup night volunteers smile at the families and older folks who come through to eat on Tuesdays.  It is giving in a way that also brings pleasure to those who give.  It isn’t drudgery although of course there might be touches.  The Scout leader finding enough other adults to go on camping trips; the soup night volunteers getting enough donations to cover the cost of ingredients.  And for the quilters, there are also harder moments.  How much will it cost to get the old library building painted this year?  Who will chink the first cabin? But in general, these individuals nurture our community and themselves at the same time.

Leaves falling

Yes, we are working on the quilt with the beautiful star.  It is taking time but last week we finally made the first turn.  Meanwhile, Cathryn tied a lovely quilt made of so many different flannel squares. Its a beauty and will certainly find a good home this winter.  Then next Friday we put a second quilt on a frame to sew.  There is a good crew coming on Fridays at this point.  Sally is joining us before she gets too busy with making Christmas wreaths. No one is traveling so all four sides of the first frame were full of women quilting.  More room is needed so the second quilting frame will allow us to spread out a bit.

I know I mentioned this before but it is true enough and good enough that it deserves to be mentioned again. The individuals who quilt in this group are wonderful individuals.  I listen to them tell stories about grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Joan laments about one of her cats.  Lynda sorts out the business aspects of managing the Historical Village. We ask each other who heard from Cathy who is living overseas this year and who has been in touch with Bonnie.  Is she is Idaho visiting family?  And there is also talk about growing old and who might help Karla who is having a tough time.

Thankfully no one mentions the upcoming election. I know all these women will vote although we don’t talk about it while quilting.  I don’t know who they will vote for but they will each in her own way study the list of candidates and the various ballot measures and issues. They take citizenship seriously.  They won’t listen to a spouse or grown son tell them whom to vote for.  They won’t show up at the polling place unprepared.  These women to the fullest extent take citizenship seriously.   There isn’t a one who doesn’t contribute to the community in numerous ways: volunteering with the library or a church group, making donations to the food bank,  dropping off a casserole to an ailing neighbor, attending local events.  This particular group of women set the bar high.  If everyone contributed as much as these women, sincerely caring about their community and neighbors we would be better off. If everyone seriously studied issues and candidates before voting and did not engage in empty political feuds, we could discuss what matters.

There are Fridays when I feel that these women are maintaining the fabric of our town as they sit around the frames quilting.  Thank goodness they are here.

That time of year

Where does summer go? It seemed we just finished quilting in May and now we are already sliding into August.  The volunteers at the museum are busy every afternoon greeting visitors and telling them about the history of this valley.  Other volunteers did some work on the playground so the area under the swings and slide won’t get so muddy in the future.  It is temporarily fenced off but will be available soon for all the children who enjoy playing there. Last week four of us got together in the morning to give all the buildings in the Village a good dusting and sweeping so they continue to look their best for the summer season. And of course other Historical Village fans are busy planning the annual Dinner on the Lake.  The lovely fundraiser for the Tobacco Valley Board of History is always a treat for the forty people who attend.  This year’s menu includes a four-course meal featuring French cuisine and wine. Imagine eating this scrumptious meal while looking out over Dickey Lake in the evening on August 13th. Tickets are already sold out but Carol does have a waiting list if you are tempted. Call her at 889-3427.

As always, I am astounded by the time and energy people give to maintaining the Historical Village.  They recognize that this is not just a museum but our heritage.  It contains the history of the people who settled here, the lives that created this community and those who give it their heart to continue.  Perhaps you will have time this summer to stop by and amble through the buildings, or give Carol a call to attend the Dinner on the Lake, or maybe think about how you can help to make the Tobacco Valley Board of History even stronger. Thanks.

 

 

Where it starts

It starts with a seed. Actually cotton comes from many seeds planted in the spring, gradually producing flowers that when pollinated produce fruit. The flowers emerge pale yellow but once pollinated they sharpen into pink and gradually a bright fuchsia. And the fruit that is produce from the flower isn’t your typical fruit like an apple or a mango. It’s a fruit that is a boll, a tough outer shell that contains soft white fluff and seeds. Between when the seed is planted in the spring to the boll harvested in the fall, the cotton plant grows to be about forty-eight inches and it puts out those lovely fuchsia colored flowers because it is related to the hibiscus after all. And then the bolls are harvested, the cotton ginned which separates fluff from seeds, its put into gigantic bales and sent off to be made into thread and then into cloth.
Of course there are numerous steps from the bales arriving to the bolts of cloth being shipped out. The cotton needs to be combed and carded. All the fibers need to be aligned so they can be spun into thread. And then all those thousands, millions of miles of thread are woven into cloth. The cloth is dyed mauve or turquoise or that creamy yellow that Carmen likes. Perhaps it is printed with the small floral designs that Judy prefers or bright fanciful animals that Cathryn will use for the baby quilts.

This is only a very quick glance at the process from seed to fabric bolt. There is no rumbling of machines planting cottonseeds twelve rows at a time under a southern sky. Nor the grumbles of Eli Whitney who invented the cotton gin and never made money from it. Can the body-shaking vibrations in a factory full of machines spinning that fluff into cotton threads at more than 2,500 revolutions a second even be imagined? And those looms! Not just any loom will do but looms called Sulzer shuttleless weaving machine or a water-jet loom. Acres of factories producing acres of cloth. So many acres of cloth that it is counted in tons, yes metric tons, rather than the sensible yards measured out at the fabric store.
It starts from a seed and transforms into that bolt of fabric that the slightly older woman with a pair of glasses hung around her neck measures and cuts into lengths at the shop. It will be taken home and cut again into smaller pieces and sewn into a pattern that becomes the top of a quilt.