JV Museum hosts Gabfest

The JV Museum opened its doors for the Annual Gabfest during Whitehall's Frontier Days Celebration. A warm welcome was extended to all the alumni that came to share stories and add to the history contained within the Museum's walls. In recent years genealogy has become a popular interest and one could hear interesting relative stories and how they had all come together in

this small western town.

Skip Clark and his sister Annette Rinehart of Helena came to share stories of the little red wagon that their great-grandfather, John Clark had built in 1903. He made it for his sons Roland and Austin Clark. It had been handed down to Roland Clark who for many years during WWII operated a service station on Main Street in Whitehall. This wagon had been used in several parades. The wagon was handed down to Roland's son Dan Clark who married Pat Pyfer who was related to Dan Pyfer who ran the Pyfer Lumber Yard in the "Pump Hill Area" and lived in Pyferville. The red wagon finally came to rest in the JV Museum for all to enjoy.

As we continued to wander through the Museum, telling stories about the many artifacts, we were soon joined by Dick Rennie of Boulder who related that his Dad Joseph Rennie, who was out of Wilsall, Montana and was associated with the Walter Hill Ranch, brought in the first Scottish Highland Cattle to Montana from Scotland in 1921. They trailed them from Livingston to the Walter Hill Ranch or the Goat Mt. Ranch.

Dixie Shaw Rennie advised that her great uncle, Roy Frye from Jeffers, Montana, drove stage coaches through Yellowstone in the early 1900s. While Bud (Ron) Hampa laughingly said that in 1955, the basketball players were measured from fingertip to fingertip of their outstretched arms to determine who would be playing in the defense position. And MaryAnna Fredlund Magnante joined in the conversation to add that her family owned the Whitehall Produce for a number of years.

There was much laughter, serious and not-so-serious stories and old friends reconnecting. Many of the alumni and other visitors took advantage of the Historic Home Tour conducted by Arlene Weber. She and driver Jeff Reynolds took the riders on a historical tour of Whitehall as seen through the houses where many of the town's leaders had lived. LouAnn (Capp) Schielke joined with Anne Pehl Baker Atchleye, her son C. J. Baker and granddaughter Addie Baker on commenting that the tour was very informative and they learned a lot and reminisced a lot about their youth.

All in all, it was a great weekend.