Canby Historical Society

President's Corner

Happy New Year and welcome to another busy and event-packed year for Canby Historical Society! I am honored to be chosen to serve as your President this year, and a special thanks to Cheryl Rahn, who led us through a very successful 2008. She'll be a hard act to follow, but with everyone's help we can make 2009 just as successful. I can't say enough about our Board of Directors and Member volunteers. Volunteerism is the engine that runs any civic organization, and their dedication and commitment is why CHS continues to be as successful as it is. A big thank-you also to our Museum staff. Andrea Wilson and Dawn Eleen are an invaluable help in everything from tours and knowledge of Canby history to our exhibits and Website design, and we appreciate their assistance.

As we roll into Spring and look forward to warmer days and flower gardens beginning to bloom, we will kick off our own garden party of annual events, beginning with our Spring Flea Market, scheduled for March 28. Next stop will be our 3rd Grade visits to our Depot Museum in May, our Herman Bergman Memorial Breakfast on July 4, our Fall Flea Market on October 17 and St. Nick Day and our annual Christmas Party in December. In amongst this medley of events will be our very popular Public Programs, featuring local residents with a life story to tell. 2009 is also Oregon's Sesquicentennial and CHS is gearing up to celebrate its Statehood with events you won't want to miss! So stay tuned to our Newsletters, and watch for announcements in the Herald. We also have new exhibits on display, so come visit our Museum, because your travel through Canby history begins at the Depot!

CHS Welcomes New Board Member



The Canby Historical Society is please to welcome Sharon Fazzio to our 2009 Board of Directors. Her creative enthusiams and love of Canby history will be a great asset to us in the coming year. She graduated from Canby High School, and spent most of thirty years as a Real Estate broker in Canby, and is now retired. She enjoys working with the Historical Society, antiques, golfing, spending time outdoors, and spending time with her nine grandchildren





Special Thanks To:

Carl Menkel for constructing new Flea Market signs.

Carl Menkel for constructing a quilt frame for (put appropriate words) exhibit

Jack Scrugg's Quartet for their wonderful entertainment at the annual Xmas party.

Larry and Betty Faist for donation of pumpkins for our Fall Flea Market

Monthly Speakers

Upcoming speakers at Depot Museum at 7:00 p.m.:

March 17th - Dick Samuels, owner of Oregon Pacific Railroad, speaking on his childhood and how he got started in railroading, working with the live steamline railroad at Shady Dell at Fryer Park in Molalla, Molalla branch tressel fire and 1996 flood.

April 21st - Jeanne Younce Kersey and Ted Hall, second counsins and great granddaughter and grandson of Albert Lee, will speak on Lee family history and will give "open letter" to her great aunt, Bertha Lee 1880-1918.

May 19th - Jim Gibson speaking and displaying his collection of vintage steam engine toys.

Any questions, please contact here or call Depot Museum at 503-266-6712 at it normal business hours

Hey, I Can't Read That Sign From Out Here - What Does It Say?

f you've ever noticed or even tried to decipher our Museum Reader Board from Highway 99E, you'll know it's almost impossible. It is 26 years old, out-of-date, hard to keep clean, and inclement weather and age has caused us to make repairs that are not cost-effective to CHS. The Board of Directors has researched the cost and style of a new state-of-the-art digital LED Reader Board, and we feel we?ve chosen a style that would aesthetically compliment the Depot Museum. This LED Reader Board would be programmed and operated from the Museum's computer system. It would have a computerized rolling-screen, or in any format we would choose to set up, lighted at night, and would give us the benefit and opportunity to advertise all of our events and Museum activities.

The Board of Directors has obtained three bids on the purchase of a new Reader Board and we have selected the lowest bid and also the one we feel would be most appropriate for our use. We have also applied for Grants to assist us in the purchase.

Members, this is not an inexpensive enterprise. The lowest bid for a Reader Board is $27,000. While we feel the benefits would out-weigh the cost, the challenge in raising the funds for this capital expense is daunting. We are asking for donations, in any amount you can manage, to be deposited into our "Reader Board Fund", which we have set up. Your contributions are tax-deductible and would be used entirely for the cost of the Reader Board, and we will keep the Membership informed as to the progress and balance of this account. We realize this will not be an overnight success story and will have to keep chipping away at the balance, but we feel the end result is obtainable, and through Grants and with everyone's help, we will have a brand new Reader Board we can all be proud of?.and, yes, you would be able to read it from "out there"!

Oral History Project

The Canby Historical Society is starting a partnership with OCTS Channel 5 to videotape our oral history interviews of local residents. We are proud to announce that we will begin our series with Dick Brown's interview. With his recent passing, this will be an emotional and heartwarming story for you to view. Please check the Canby Herald for air times during the month of October. We are excited to be able to tape these stories with the help of Mike Maze and his assistant, Bob, who are vital in putting together these programs.

The Looking Back Book

We are one of five local historical societies which have teamed together with the Canby Herald and the Wilsonville Spokesman to publish a hard-bound coffee table pictorial book, which captures the rich history of our area. The book is to feature more than 300 vintage photographs from Wilsonville, Canby, Aurora, Champoeg, and St. Paul; and will be published in conjunction with Oregon's 150th anniversary of statehood.

The Looking Back book is being published by Pediment Publishing Company, and will be available in late November. The Canby Historical Society has been working with Mick Scott of Marketing Communications Management of Wilsonville to include approximately 70 photographs with narratives of the Canby area.

The book may be pre-ordered at a cost of $29.95 for a single copy. Five or more copies to a single order will cost $24.00 per copy. Order forms are available at the Canby Depot Museum or at the Canby Herald office.

Depot Museum to Host Guest Curator

Canby Historical Society is pleased to announce that we have hired Mr. Patrick Harris as Curator for our Depot Museum. Patrick will research our collections, assess our display/exhibit potential and provide an over view for the Board to follow. Under the direction of a professional, we hope to better serve the Canby and Clackamas County area with improved displays. By using these new guidelines into the future, we can use our resources to create exhibits that invite the public back on a regular basis. Please watch for announcements, in our newsletter and in the Canby Herald, about all of our exciting changes.

The funding for this project was provided by a grant that we received though Clackamas County Tourism and Canby Chamber of Commerce. We were encouraged to apply for a grant and privileged to actually receive some of the benefits. We look forward to continuing this partnership.!