Preservation Rosebud Welcomes Guest Speaker Beverly Ann Stone

Preservation Rosebud met on Thursday, March 21, for a very special evening. President Les Heugatter called the meeting to order and welcomed guest speaker Beverly Ann Stone to the museum. Ms. Stone was accompanied by Trudie Asbury and Robert Lowry, all from the Falls County Historical Commission in Marlin.

James Prothro’s introduction of Ms. Stone earned an enthusiastic round of applause. Her impressive background includes a career at Southwestern Bell and AT&T in Houston. 

She was an exhibit builder for the Star of the Republic Museum at Washington on the Brazos and donated her time to Fanthrop State Park at Anderson. She began volunteering at the Falls County Historical Museum in Marlin to design and implement a cataloguing and inventory system. 

Today, Ms. Stone is the volunteer curator at the museum where she has inventoried over 8,000 items. Beverly Ann Stone is also an avid genealogist and Texas history buff and is a foundational anchor of the Falls County Historical Museum.

Ms. Stone’s presentation “Museum Protocol and Software” familiarized the group with Musarch, a museum software program. Using a smart TV and laptop, she expertly guided Preservation Rosebud members through the program, including using an ascension numbering system, and gave invaluable suggestions for organizing the museum to store artifacts. Her offer to assist with setting up the Musarch program at the Rosebud Museum is much appreciated. 

Everyone enjoyed seeing a rotating collection of pictures of historic Marlin, including the Falls Hotel. A slideshow of photographs of Westphalia wedding couples taken by Robert Lowry was a delight.  Members were inspired to plan a future TV setup for a slideshow of photos at future Golden Years Reunion events, and Mr.  Lowry offered his help with that project. 

Ms. Stone provided Preservation Rosebud members with a extensive nine page handout including forms for accepting acquisitions, setting up inventory, and handling artifacts. She skillfully answered questions from the members present: Les Heugatter, Fran Heugatter, James Prothro, Alfred Martinez, Joe Saunders, Sharon Saunders, Greg Wallace and Marla Wallace. 

Joe Saunders shared a form he designed to sign up volunteers for future museum openings.

Members and guests enjoyed refreshments and time together. Sharon Saunders brought a colorful bluebonnet flower arrangement, artfully created from wildflowers in her yard in Travis. Her zucchini bread is always a hit with everyone as is Marla Wallace’s signature buttermilk pound cake. Artichoke dip, pita chips and sausage and cheese with crackers were provided by Les and Fran Heugatter. Iced tea and water were also served.

Special thanks go to Beverly Ann Stone for sharing her expertise with Preservation Rosebud members. It was a very informative evening.

The next Preservation Rosebud event will be the upcoming Rosebud High School Golden Years Reunion reception at the museum on Saturday, April 6, from 9-11 a.m. Hosting this open house for alumni is a high point of the year and an opportunity to welcome friends to the museum for a fun gathering.

Everything’s rosy in Rosebud.