Two seek museum board seats

The Daily Inter Lake

Only two people applied for openings on the Flathead County Museum Board, leaving the continued existence of the group in doubt.

The board is responsible for administering the Flathead County Museum, located on about 15 acres along U.S. 93 south of Four Corners.

Five board members resigned or declined to seek reappointment last month. Given the absence of financial support from the county, they felt there was little they could do even to maintain the building, much less turn it into a proper museum.

The county commissioners said they'd like to keep the board going, preferably with some new members who have experience at fundraising.

However, they also acknowledged that the board's future - and the future of the museum - would depend on volunteers.

"If there's no community interest, if we can't find any new volunteers to serve on the board, maybe that will decide the issue for us," said Commissioner Joe Brenneman in January.

The deadline for applications was Monday.

Alan Quimby and Brad Hanson were the only people to submit letters of interest.

Quimby, the owner of Rainbow Carriage Services, spent 30 years in Alaska as a research biologist.

He also restores antique horse-drawn equipment and is interested in preserving local history.

"My dad, granddad and great-granddad were all horse loggers and farmed with horses here in the valley," he wrote. "I'm trying to keep those techniques alive by working my horses at these various tasks."

Hanson is a retired Army officer who later served as a center director for the Boy Scouts of America in Los Angeles, running a 12-acre, $4.5 million recreational complex that served 14,000 people per year.

He said he has experience with budgeting, fundraising and procuring equipment and supplies.

The commissioners were at a conference on Wednesday and unavailable for comment about the next step for the museum board.