Story and image provided by Stillwater History Museum at the Sheerar

The Stillwater History Museum at the Sheerar has been celebrating the history of Stillwater for forty-four years. In 1987, the Stillwater Museum Association became an independent 501(c)3 and took over operations of the Sheerar Center. The Sheerar Center, built in 1928 by the First Christian Scientist Church, is celebrating the building’s 90th anniversary and like all 90 year old buildings it is starting to show its age. In order to continue to protect and preserve Stillwater’s unique history the Stillwater Museum Association Board of Trustees is always looking for interesting fundraising ideas.  

Last year the museum’s Board of Trustees undertook a new fundraising effort to help share Stillwater’s past, while preserving its history for the future. Nancy Beckstrom, SMA Board Member, brought an example of a Datebook fundraiser to a board meeting and slowly the idea started to move. The 2018 Datebook publication was the first planner created to commemorate Stillwater’s history. This limited edition publication included stories and photographs from many Stillwater natives, such as the Adams, Houston, Koeppe, Simank, and Thomas families, businesses, and community groups. In total the publication includes thirty pages of unique Stillwater history and provides a useful calendar and notes pages. Local residents sponsored the pages and Bob Davis designed the pages. Gladeen Allred, Nancy Beckstrom, Kay Keys, Judy Ringwall, Vicky Sturgeon and fellow board members sold pages and gathered the materials from donors. Kay Keys and Nancy Beckstrom were instrumental in editing the pages. Last year the publication brought in $9,000 to support the museum’s mission through page sponsorships and book sales.

The fundraiser was such a success, that the board decided to make this year’s book even better. The 2019 edition will include great stories from Hideaway Pizza, Lee Glass and Window, First United Methodist Church, and many more. The 2019 datebook was designed by Mark Pennie, of Pennie Works Studio and Kay Keys was the primary editor of the publication.

The books will go on sale to the public for $20.00 each, at the museum, on Sat., Sept. 29th and will be available until sold out. These books make great Holiday gifts and we encourage you to shop early before they are gone. The museum is located at 702 S. Duncan on the lower level of the Sheerar Center, please use the east door.