We are optimistically looking forward!

My last blog was a year-and-a-half ago. In some symbolic way, time seemed almost to stop for a while, if only because our usual ways of doing things—from shopping and attending meetings to working and socializing—changed so dramatically.

And though, of course, nothing is certain when it comes to rampant, communicable disease, it may be that things are becoming “manageable.” In other words we can—if we are careful—probably begin to resume life almost as we knew it. And the History Center will return to its popular series of presentations. We are very fortunate to have an enthusiastic new Program Committee, headed by Elizabeth Phillips, and there are good things to come. Thank you for spearheading this, Elizabeth!

Plans for the full spectrum of what is to come are still progressing, but look at this site’s expanded Events page to get a preview. As you will read there (and in the coming Spring Bulletin) the year’s first program will take place on Sunday, April 24th. Karen Bianchi Moreda and her partners/sons, Jim and Joe Moreda, will tell us the story of their local award-winning cheeses, produced at the nearby Valley Ford Creamery. (The museum will be open as usual that afternoon, from 1:00 until 4:00 pm.) And yes, there will be tastings!

Because the museum was closed for much of the past two years, the retrospective of the work of local photographer Ella Jorgensen (1864-1945), Tomales and Beyond: 1900-1945, was inaccessible. Now the Retrospective will be held over until early 2023, and we hope that you will plan to visit. Jorgensen’s personal views of four decades of our mutual, local world are extraordinary—sometimes at once revealing, enchanting, and familiar.

And finally, I’m very pleased to tell you that Marin County native Lynn Downey—the accomplished archivist who was our temporary consultant during 2020—has agreed to become the Center’s permanent Consulting Archivist. On a quarterly basis, Lynn will manage and oversee the Collection’s intake, organization, and preservation, and be a welcome advisor to the members of our Collection Committee. It is good, in so many ways, to have this amiable, enthusiastic, and inspiring professional on our team.

And it is good to say, Welcome Back!