Oregon Jerusalem Historical Society
Historic Brandville School & Museum Complex
Home of the Oregon - Jerusalem Historical Society
1133 Grasser Street (near Pickle & Wheeling Streets.)
Oregon, Ohio 43616
419-693-7052
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
It was two years ago this January that I attended our annual meeting. I had made my mind up that if needed, I would serve as Vice President. As the meeting concluded, and the business of officer selection commenced, I suddenly found myself in the President’s position and I owe that to Betty Metz, who offered to support me if I’d say yes to the job. That night, I tossed and turned realizing I was now President of OJHS. I said to myself, “What have I done?” “What will I do?” The presidents before me had raised the bar quite high and I didn’t know what I could do that would equal their contribution to the society.
By morning I had settled on the project of turning our office on the second floor of Brandville into the Oregon Township room. This would allow us to use the whole building, honor our pioneers, and allow people to walk the front stairway that the Brandville students had tread a hundred years ago. As the project progressed, I met and got to know some of the members I hadn’t known before. I got to know better, members I had already been acquainted with and what started here is the great appreciation of the talent we have at OJHS.
I have enjoyed the unique personalities that come with such wonderful talents. I’ve been able to watch and be part of a society that has grown, changed, and has had some growing pains. What I see now is a membership that supports, tolerates and encourages others to use their talents for the betterment of OJHS. I’ve watched as our members have twice created a gift shop. This time they named it! I saw a collection of disorganized military artifacts be turned into a military room that any town would be proud of and I’ll never forget that face that cleaned all those showcases and squeezed into those tight spaces.
I’ve had my breath taken away on several occasions by the sheer beauty of a room set up for a ladies tea. The organization, attention to detail, and the following of these teas are superb.
Also, I’m appreciative of the help that our membership gave me and the display of talent at the Civil War tour. I can’t speak of the war without thinking about the performance of Mrs. Lincoln.
At the time of this writing, I’m still hearing all the accolades for the home tour. I only watched the committee do what they do best. I do like to hear good things about our successes. Congratulations!
All of us are brought together by our beautiful old school buildings. The care in any way toward our stewardship of these buildings is appreciated by all. We thank those who spend hours each year working here at Brandville.
As my time as President closes, I just wanted to say thank you to the Board of Trustees for their support of me. It has been a dream fulfilled for me to serve in the society of Josephine Fassett.
Your President,
Jeff Eversman
Our complex is open 10 am-2 pm each Thursday (excluding holidays). Additional arrangements can be made for a tour by a trained docent for groups of 4 or more. There is no charge for this, but donations are welcome.
