Sheridan Rotarians welcomed guest speaker Ron Stone to their meeting this past Tuesday evening. Stone is a life-long Sheridan resident and retired Hamilton Heights teacher. Among his many other retirement activities, he is the president of the Sheridan Historical Society. He was invited to Rotary to tell members about the new Sheridan Historical Society museum being created on Main Street.
Last fall the Historical Society was able to purchase the motor cycle shop at 315 S. Main St. in Sheridan. Many older residents will best remember the building as the old Hippodrome Movie Theater or later the old Pickett Five & Dime Store. Stone has taken the lead in remodeling the facility to give the existing museum across the street at 308 S. Main St. a new home. The present museum is just too small to contain the expanding museum collection and allow for adequate display space.
Following Stone’s talk, members of the Rotary Club took a tour of the new facility. The old building has been gutted inside and through the tireless efforts of Stone the interior has been rewired, re-plumbed and next week new HVAC systems will be installed. The interior has seen new storage and office space constructed including space for the Society’s extensive Sheridan genealogy collection. Total cost of this project is estimated to be in the range of $150,000 and it is hoped the new museum can be finished by mid-summer 2018. Donations to help meet the expense of the remodel are very much welcome.
According to Historical Society First Vice President Steve Martin, “The community owes a huge debt of gratitude to Ron Stone for all the sweat equity he has put into this project. Since last fall he has put in hundreds of hours of hard labor and probably more than a little of his own money to see this new museum come to fruition and become an asset to our progressive Main Street and the growth of our entire community.”
Sheridan Rotary meets at 6:15 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the Community Room of the Sheridan Public Library, 103 W. First St. in beautiful uptown Sheridan, just on the country side of Hamilton County.