February 2005 Monthly Report

Curatorial Staff

Janna Hermanson and Marge Antolik

February was a busy month for the reduced VC/NC collections staff. Janna and Marge have been trying to fill the gap left by the departure of Curator Pat Roath and Museum Tech Tim Gerber and wish them both well, and also look forward to working with a new Curator and Technician soon. Janna kept busy with archival material from the Methodist Church, as well as the backlog of items in the Curatorial Center from both Virginia and Nevada Cities, and with a number of additional Curator responsibilities. We made several visits to the Gilbert Brewery to check out newly discovered artifacts and to make room for the Preservation Crew’s work by moving kegs and other objects. Work continues to progress at and for the Gilbert House in preparation for the large-scale move of objects and future preservation work. Objects from the Nevada City Boots and Shoes building have been accessioned and are being prepared for storage. We have also been doing research for an interpretive brochure for the arrastra stones we have on loan and displayed at the Curatorial Center, which are originally from a local historic mine. Marge was pleased to work with John Ellingsen and volunteer Ron Kunkel to complete the loan of some of our Frontier House collection for the filming of an upcoming television movie. In addition to caring for our own vast collection, McFarland Curatorial Center will soon be temporary home to two full-size, mounted buffalo from Fish, Wildlife and Parks and over the past 2 weeks we have been scrambling to find space enough to accommodate our new charges. Pictured below is:

MMIO: McFarland's Most Interesting Object for February

The check, from the Gilbert Brewing Company, paid to the order of local VC resident George E. Gohn, drawn on the Madison State Bank of Virginia City was written on November 20, 1916. It was found among the Bovey Archives stored at the Methodist Church.