Warsaw museum celebrates mortgage burning
Steve Kempf (far left) had the pleasure of lighting a copy of the mortgage for the Walhonding Valley Historical Society Museum building on fire. The board of trustees celebrated paying the mortgage off early during its Nov. 8 meeting at the fire station in Warsaw. Josie Sellers | Beacon
WARSAW – The Walhonding Valley Historical Society Museum Board of Trustees celebrated a historical moment at its Nov. 8 meeting at the fire station in Warsaw.
Due to the generosity of the community and the dedication of museum volunteers the board was able to burn its mortgage.
“I never dreamed we would have the museum paid off in eight years,” said Brenda Davis.
The Walhonding Valley Historical Society opened its museum in Sept. 2001 in Warsaw’s former post office.
“We filled up quickly because people in the community were so generous,” Davis said. “We started looking right away and found the old hotel (where the museum is now located) that had apartments in it.”
The old hotel on Main Street became the society’s in December 2008 and as the renters left they took the building over.
“We had a 20 or 30 year mortgage and Century National Bank was the only lender that would work with us,” Davis said. “They were amazed we actually paid it off so quickly. The Coshocton Foundation and Montgomery Foundation also helped us with the purchase and big projects like the roof, which was $30,000.”
Davis is married to Dale Davis, whose father Marvin Davis and Franklin Fischer originally started conversations about a museum in Warsaw.
“When Marvin passed away (Warsaw Mayor) Ron Davis asked if we’d like to follow up on his wishes to start a museum,” Brenda said. “Community people got involved and everyone just started working together.”
Now that the building is paid for, Brenda said they would like to move forward with renovations to its upstairs.
“It’s on the National Registry of Historic Places so it’s also important to us to maintain the character of its architecture,” she said.
After enjoying a lunch catered by Roberta’s Diner, all those who attended the trustees meeting stepped outside of the fire station where they lit a copy of the museum’s mortgage on fire.
During the meeting Warsaw Mayor Ron Davis also read a proclamation celebrating the moment and several volunteers were honored for their dedication to the museum and their assistance at bingo nights held at the Coshocton Loyal Order of the Moose #935, which raised funds to help pay the mortgage off early.
“We appreciate everything people have done to make the museum a place to gather information and hold artifacts for a long time to come,” Ron said.
Brenda said people have traveled from all over to visit the museum.
“They’ve come from all states even as far as Utah,” she said. “Now that we are on the internet we get a lot of people from out of state and the local community also has been very supportive.”
The Walhonding Valley Historical Society Museum is located on Main Street in Warsaw and more information about it can be found at www.wvhistoricalsociety.org.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
