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November 1, 2011

RCHS celebrates 20 years

Salesha Wilken Staff Reporter

CLAREMORE —  

Rogers County Historical Society celebrated 20 years of preservation as members and guests gathered last week at the Belvidere Mansion.
Through the last 20 years the society has purchased properties like the Will Rogers Hotel and the Belvidere Mansion. Both properties were remodeled or restored to represent the history of the structure.
RCHS is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving the heritage and landmarks of Rogers County.
Additionally, the RCHS oversees the care-taking of the Totem Pole Park in Chelsea and manages the Lynn Riggs Memorial.
The latest project members have been working on is the Claremore Museum of History.
Honored guests were recognized to show appreciation for their many years of service.
The event had a very social atmosphere not unlike the dinner parties hosted back in the early days of the Belvidere family’s stay in the mansion.
Guests dined on finger foods and reminisced about the changes the society has seen in each of the projects they support.
At the event RCHS recognized the milestone in the society and presented volunteers with awards.
Many deceased members received special recognition for the role they played in founding the society and the restoration projects. These members often left endowments or gave other monetary support to the society.
Individuals were named and honored as committee chairs, special project leaders and even for running or maintaining the facilities.
Some of the activities from the past 20 years included supervision of inmates that worked on the clean up of the Belvidere and hotel projects.
Not to be left out, were many guests who received certificates for service. This included committee members, photographers, those who wrote news stories, made phone calls, baked cookies, mopped floors and just about anything else they could do to help, according to Lois Hawkins, RCHS president.
Hawkins presented recipients with certificates and special honorees received music boxes engraved with the RCHS logo.
RCHS continues to grow and continues to look for new members to help the organization.  Cynthia and Ron McVicar are the just some of the new members that were recognized.
“If you need to know where anything is in the Belvidere, Cynthia knows,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins also recognized Morgan Williams, RCHS vice-president and gift shop manager for the Belvidere and David and Patsy Anderson managers of the Totem Pole Park.
The evening concluded after the awards were presented with friends sharing stories about the past 20 years. RCHS members are looking forward to many more years to come as they continue the legacy to preserve the history of Rogers County.

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