Museum Week 99

     The attendance at many of the events at this year's Museum Week was disappointing, but those who braved the debilitating heat found the various presentations to be both entertaining and informative. This year we were forced to start with the Concert, which usually concludes the festivities, because of a scheduling conflict.  The Ceili Dancers' workshop and performance were well received, but the audience was somewhat disappointed that  Tommy O'Halloran, the fine accordionist, was in Dublin and did not come with Murphy, Paige, and Smith.  Also, the sound system that we put together was not as good as the one we used last year.
 Laurie Sommers arrived from Atlanta to talk about the "old time" Beaver Island music. Barry Pischner, the Island's own troubadour, cohosted, singing songs and telling stories to explain the lyrics or inspiration -- sometimes in the middle of a song.  She stayed on to tape Monday night's "Music on the Porch," which was one of the few events to top last year's attendance.
Vickie Speek, a noted author and Mormon from Illinois, humanized the Strang era by focusing on the individual stories of his five wives.  She pointed out that, no matter what one thinks of Strang himself, his motives, and the validity or invalidity of his claims, most of his followers were honest men and women who were sincerely looking for a way to find spiritual fulfillment.  What befell them after Strang was shot was truly tragic.
Frank Ettawageshik was as fascinating as always. He talked about how he had become a potter and how he had stumbled across and perfected various techniques.  As he spoke, he demonstrated his art by making a small pot from a lump of clay. He also showed slides of one of his classes firing their work, and then answered dozens of questions from the audience.
     On Wednesday Karen Lewis called to say that her brother-in-law had died and she would not be able to present her show on Native American basket-weaving traditions. It would have made a good companion piece to Phyllis Duda's discussion of old quilts and quilt-making. We were lucky that Phil Gregg was available to give his Then and Now presentation on such short notice.  That afternoon Joyce Bartels presented some gleanings from the archives of the 1899 Charlevoix Sentinal that made reference to Beaver Island.  Using an opaque projector borrowed from North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, she showed pictures of many of the Islanders who had made the news.
     On Thursday afternoon Jim Gillingham and some of his staff at the Biological Station again presented his always well-attended talk about our reptiles and amphibians. Then Jim and Kathy Firestone talked about Beaver and the other nearby islands on Thursday evening. Kathy is writing a book about the Beavers, and held the audience spellbound with the many interesting bits of information she has picked up in the course of her research. If it's anything like her informative book on the Fox Islands, we're sure it will be a wonderful addition to the publications about this area.
     Sheryl Podgorski had intended to pay tribute to Keewaydinoquay by talking about the knowledge of the medicinal uses of plants that she had acquired during her twenty-year apprenticeship.  Kee's health had been failing all spring, and this time her doctors warned us not to count on the last-minute recovery that had become her trademark.  Unfortunately, they were right, and this colorful woman who had provoked our contemplation through her contrary, yet unassuming, existence passed away. Those who knew her realize what a loss this is for everyone who appreciates the extensive natural endowment with which we are blessed.  Sheryl went to Garden Island for the internment, which took place on Friday morning with seventy-five of Kee's friends in attendance.  Don Meister, who could not make the trip because of an injury, delivered an interesting talk in Sheryl's place.
     On Saturday Dan VandenHeede spoke about his research into the history of Beaver Island's commercial fishing. He told several interesting stories, such as about the fish trust and the war over the closed season.
The Art Show, Pet Show, and tours of the Protar Home met with general approval.  Once again there were requests to have more Nature Walks.
On the positive side, even if this was not financially as successful as Museum Weeks have been in the past, it helped publicize our existence, programs, and agenda. If you have any suggestions for next year, we'd be glad to hear them.  Planning is already underway.