Successfully spreading knowledge of history at Dayton Valley Days

Well, another Dayton Valley Days has come and gone and from where I sat it seemed successful. At the museum, it couldn't have been any smoother. The new group of docents went about letting folks know all about the history of Dayton. They didn't hesitate expounding all the knowledge they have soaked up in the past eight months. They are a great bunch and are a wonderful addition to the Dayton Museum.

One of the attractions that brought in an interested group of people was the four lectures that were given. I was quite surprised that there were a lot of people who stayed for all four. It's nice to see so many who are interested in history.

The questions asked were a good indication of their interest in this area. We gave a door prize with each lecture. It's fun to see how much folks enjoyed that part. We could have given them a bag of rocks. They just had fun winning.

We also had some of our volunteers helping, setting up chairs, doing the raffle drawings, answering questions, and helping with the clean up. For those folks that helped - thank you. It just shows how smoothly things go when we all pitch in. Thank you all, docents and volunteers, for a great weekend.

Things slowed a great deal on Sunday. It gave us a chance to spend more time with people who came to see the museum. One such group was a man and wife with son and daughter from France. It was fun to watch docent Donna McElroy explaining mining to the parents and then the parents in turn explaining in French to the children. The young boy was so interested and very enthusiastic that the family should go out and seek for gold. We got a chuckle out of that. Thanks to our miniature mining equipment exhibit it makes it easier to explain the process.

It is always heartwarming to hear people tell us how wonderful our museum is. A lot of people leave saying that they want to bring their friends and family back to visit. I now see a lot of returning people who tell me they had to bring people back to see our little old school house museum.

The Dayton Museum is located on Shady Lane and Logan in Old Town Dayton, and is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Check the Web site: daytonnvhistory.org. Group tours are available. Call 246-5543, 246-0462 or 246-0441.

The Historical Society of Dayton Valley meets at noon on the third Wednesday of the month at the Dayton Valley Community Center. Visitors welcome.

• Ruby McFarland has lived in Dayton since October 1987, she serves as a board member of the Dayton historical society and a docent at the museum.