‘Twas a little more than three years ago when my wife suggested I do a weekly historical column to highlight events and people 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago this week. I agreed and set out to find a place where old Wayland and Penasee Globes are kept.
Thanks to old friend and Martin Bureau Chief Jon Gambee, I was steered to the Then & Now historical library in downtown Dorr, n
ear the intersection of 18th Street and 142nd Avenue. I quickly learned the place was devoted to historical documents, artifacts, photos and genealogy.
It was just what I was looking for, and helpful volunteer staff regulars Linda Stoepker, Pat Brewer, Helen Ringer and the irrepressible Lee Dale “Pete” Arnsman were on hand to help and exchange friendly banter.
Since then I have been on site virtually every week to comb through old issues of the Wayland and Penasee Globes in order to report what was happening in our communities so long ago. Yes, it’s a trip down memory lane, a weekly feature in my on-line rag that I could not offer without Then & Now.
I learned after a time that the historical and geneaology service could be in peril down the road, however, purely for economic reasons.
Then & Now is a free service that does accept donations, but none of the staff is paid because it is even more strapped for cash than a public library.
The building that now opens its door to the public on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays once was the Dorr Township Hall. Then it became the Dorr Township Library. But eventually both moved to larger and greener pastures.
Then & Now’s continuing services make it necessary to keep the building heated and lighted at expense to Dorr Township. Thus far, the Township Board has been generous with its support by picking up the utilities tab and by not charging rent. But the chances are good that in future years the Township Board will have to make “a business decision” about that building, despite its historical and public service value.
In these modern times, public entities are facing increasing financial pressure to tighten their budgets by cutting buildings and services that don’t contribute to the township coffers.
“It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.” — Stringer Bell on “The Wire,” explaining why a member of the organization was murdered.
So volunteer staff members at Then & Now have been working for some time as though the Sword of Damacles has been hanging over their heads.
Now comes Dorr Township Library Director Natalie Bazan and Library Board President Peg Otto to announce plans to have an addition built for the library and let Then & Now use all of it, making the facility combined public and historical library. Talk about a win-win situation!
To be sure, it’ll take money, but I hear tell there will be plenty of fund-raising and grant seeking going on. And nobody in these parts do them better than Ms. Bazan. She’s the librarian who got a millage passed for Hopkins District Library and has probably written more successful grants than anybody in Allegan County history.
The news about the Township Library’s intentions and the acknowledgment that a fairly wealthy donor already has come on board is exciting. Instead of the tired old excuse of “It’s just business,” we may be hearing, “We saved a local treasure.”
