Last Sunday morning – and a fine one at that – the FRHS hosted its Volunteer Brunch at the Venus de Milo Restaurant in Swansea, with seventy-four members of our volunteer staff in attendance. The annual event, now in its fifth year, is held to thank the volunteers for their assistance and very loyal support.
In fact, volunteers are an integral part of the society’s operations, and every year it becomes increasingly apparent that it would be physically impossible to maintain the museum at its current level of operation without all of them – and that is no understatement.
In Fiscal Year 2017-2018, the FRHS had a volunteer staff of 78 individuals, who were involved in nearly every aspect of the day-to-day business of the museum, visibly and behind-the-scenes. Combined, they gave over 4000 hours of service to the organization – a conservative figure exclusive of the hours worked for special events throughout the year, and there were heaps of those.
As the organization grows and offers more resources and events to the community, the work for the volunteer staff increases in tandem.
An example:
The annual concert series, Saturday Evening Serenades – becoming increasingly popular – requires a considerable number of volunteers. The vast majority give a four week commitment, and this on a Saturday; in many cases they give the majority of their day – and evening.
The volunteer hours required for the holiday open house, and the various other holiday events, are staggering. The ever-popular Easton Tea Room is crazy busy during the season, and all the volunteers required – from servers, to bus people, to kitchen staff, dishwashers, and the host – are, in turn, all scheduled by a volunteer, and a very dedicated one at that.
Yes, it would be impossible without our volunteers.
Our major fundraiser, the annual Florence Cook Brigham Award is another example of an event integral to the museum that is fully staffed by volunteers. The committee planning it is made up entirely of volunteers, who, in turn, assemble another group to help work on the event in various capacities. It is a big undertaking.
The FRHS currently has volunteers taking on several major – and time consuming – projects in the library and archive.
Among them:
Cataloguing the research collection for listing on SAILS; the preliminary stages for recataloguing thousands of photographs; cataloguing vast manuscript collections; transcribing papers and recorded interviews; transcribing late 19thand early 20thcentury diaries; and conducting an oral history program to document the history of the R. A. McWhirr Company department store.
Rather intense stuff, that.
The members of our Board of Directors, and all the various By-Law mandated committees are made up of volunteers; their efforts are for the most part untallied, but would easily add up to several thousand additional hours annually, especially when considering the length of time that many put in working at home on behalf of the FRHS.
The FRHS is has become recognized in the greater Fall River area as an important historical resource and a center for cultural events, and as the organization grows and offers more programs to the community – which it is doing at an impressive pace – more work is created for our small staff and present roster of volunteers.
As such, new recruits are always needed for a wide variety of projects.
There is something at the society for everyone, regardless of his or her expertise and/or interests – the need is great, and the work, endless.
So, if anyone reading this has some time to spare and is interested in spending some time at the FRHS, we would very much like to hear from you.
As for the FRHS’s present roster of volunteers: Well, each and every one of them has my sincerest appreciation and thanks for all they do for the organization – and for me.
Kudos!
