New Exhibits Spiffed and Polished for Museum’s Memorial Weekend Opening
In advance of the 51st anniversary of its opening in 1975, Hinsdale County Museum is gearing up for free-admission opening day on Saturday, May 23, marking the start of an exciting summer season.According to Duane Keprta of Kennedy Dry Goods, who has taken over from Karen McClatchie as docent coordinator, the museum will be open limited hours between now and June 15 when the seven-days-per-week schedule begins.For Memorial Weekend, May 23 and 24, Hinsdale County Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday with free admission and Sunday, May 24, 1 to 4 p.m., $10 admission adults and $2. Through June 15, the museum will be open afternoons 1 to 4 p.m.Volunteer docents this season include Karen McClatchie, Sharon Rogers, Chris Moler, Glenn Heumann, Tom Loots, Denny Brannon, Henry and Julie Rothschild, Rene Faires, Alice Attaway and Kristen Lentz, together with subs Mike Harrington, Heidi Hewett, Ed Maas, and Linda Gardiner.In addition to Keprta as docent coordinator, other new museum staffing includes Jake Gumbert who takes the place of Shayla Rightsell as Administrative Coordinator.Gumbert, who previously worked at Crested Butte Ski Area and, in Lake City, assisted at Community Banks of Colorado and manning the aquatic nuisance station at Lake San Cristobal, has already been hard at work solidifying this season’s schedule of events at the county museum.Keynote on the summer schedule is Colorado Day, August 1, marking the return of completely restored Denver & Rio Grande Railroad narrow gauge passenger and freight Car 211.The railroad car regularly serviced Lake City between about 1910 and discontinuation of the Lake City branch of the railroad in 1933. In extremely deteriorated condition, the car was briefly returned to Lake City in 2018 but for the past five years has undergone top-to-bottom extensive restoration by craftsmen at Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Durango, Colorado.Completed at a cost in excess of $400,000, Car 211 returns to Lake City in July and will be formally inaugurated at a 1 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony on Colorado Day, August 1.Also planned Saturday afternoon, August 1, are tours of the restored railroad car and lectures by museum directors Mette Flynt, Grant Houston, and Glenn Heumann.Coordinated with free museum admission and refreshments served on the museum grounds, Glenn Heumann will detail the comprehensive, multi-year restoration process. Houston and Flynt will speak on the significance of the Lake City Branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad — did you know marriage vows were conducted on the halted train July 9, 1892, on Miller Flats for the wedding of Elizabeth Miller and A. Alex Messler or, another interesting fact, that armed guards were employed when individual freight cars with ore from the Golden Fleece Mine valued upwards of $60,000 were sent out from Lake City.The railroad car’s former owner, Don Shank, will also speak on Car 211’s more recent history, including the car’s use on Don Drawers’ short-lived Sundown & Southern Railroad at Fort Lupton, Colorado.Car 211 dedication weekend at Hinsdale County Museum also includes a major fundraiser, return of the popular Victorian Banquet which was a social highlight dating back to the early 1980s when it was started by the late Betsy Cheney at the old 1880 Tea Room in the Hough Block.Updated to 2026, the four-course dinner fundraiser — again with Victorian attire suggested but not required — will be held at newly remodeled Climb Elevated Eatery on Sunday evening, August 2.With wine and appetizers de rigueur, Razvan Armeanca explains that entrees, depending on choice victuals available at the time, will consist of a selection of beef, chicken or fish, together with a vegetarian option, followed by scrumptious dessert.A cash bar will be available for mixed drinks.Ticket price for the society fund replenisher fundraiser is $100 per person, further details anon and reservations in the meantime by calling the museum, 970 944 2050 or via the museum website.Summer, 2026, unveilings of new exhibits at Hinsdale County Museum, include panels custom designed and researched by Mette Flynt commemorating 250th anniversary of the United States and 150th-year anniversary for State of Colorado.Photos on display include a 1976 photo of the late Ruthanna Urankar Hall, with Lake City Mayor Bud McDonald and Bud Weems for Hinsdale County Chamber of Commerce, celebrating the state’s 100th birthday in 1976.The Centennial photo is appropriately part of a new display featuring a rolltop executive’s desk willed to the museum by the late Mrs. Hall, topped with an 1870s barbershop back bar which was at one time owned by the late Larry Pavich.Topping the list of new displays at Hinsdale County Museum are a Car 211 display in the Transportation Building highlighting looped video on the Lake City Branch of the D&RG by Gunnison resident Russ Lallier; textiles on manikins feature Selma Benson’s 1915 graduation gown from Lake City High School and formidable 1890s “traveling dress” worn by Lake City matron Severnia Benson.In line with the graduation dress and as a salute to Hinsdale County School District recognizing its 150th anniversary since start in 1876, the museum has gathered an extensive collection of Lake City High School graduation announcements starting with the first 10th Grade announcement in 1898, first 12th Grade graduation in 1901, and working up to announcements in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s.The museum’s front window display highlights students’ individual slate writing tablets and wrought iron desks dating to the 1870s, together with a wall relief map and high school science equipment dating to the tenures of Prof. G. Franklin Hoff and Prof. H.G. Heath in the 1890s and early 1900s.Also displayed from the museum’s textile collections this summer is Finella Fueller’s 1895 wedding dress when she married ranchman Webster Whinnery at First Presbyterian Church and the ballroom gown worn by Mrs. Whinnery at Governor Peabody’s gubernatorial inauguration in Denver in 1903.A showstopper clearly visible at the museum entrance and installed on the museum’s back wall is a custom-designed and secured, wooden, LED-lit cabinet crafted by Mike Carson containing the Harvey and Katherine DuChene Mineral Collection which is a mesmerizing
