Chugiak-Eagle River Historical Society board member Joan Delaquito prepares newsletters at the groupÕs headquarters in Chugiak. Photo by Chris Lundgren

Richmond's sense of urgency echoes that of the Historical Society's founders — a group of 21 charter members who gathered for the first time in April 1993. Their initial aim was to collect and archive as many photos and documents from early Chugiak and Eagle River as they could get their hands on.

“Basically, a lot of old timers are dying off and we're afraid their children are going to throw their stuff away,” the late Natalie Brooks, the Society's first president, said in a 1994 newspaper story. “We're interested in photos, letters, maps — anything that has to do with the history of the area.”

Back in those days, the group had to fit its archives inside a single closet in the basement of the Chugiak Children's Services Building (now called the Paul Swanson Building). But within a year or two the group moved to its current location in the Chugiak Benefit Association Building, where it occupies two small rooms off the foyer.

Historical Society members have always found ways to bring alive the stories housed in their cramped archives. One of the first programs they offered the public was called, “Slides and Pies,” in which the group provided a slideshow of pre-1964 Chugiak and served slices of homemade pie.

Another program, “What in Blazes is a Blazo Box?” featured old-time residents showing off furniture they'd constructed from the storage crates for canisters of Blazo (fuel most people used in their lanterns and stoves before electricity and gas service were available locally). Old-timers displayed bookshelves, bed stands, chairs and even a desk and baby crib made from the sturdy wooden boxes.

Members brought stories about the area's history into the schools as well.

“We'd go into the elementary schools by request,” said current Historical Society President Jinny Kirk. “We'd take in pictures and objects that were pertinent and talk to the kids about what it was like living here in the early days.”

But time marches on, and the number of Historical Society members available to talk to school children dwindled.

Although it still offered programs to the public a couple of times a year, the group began concentrating on getting its archival materials into formats the public could use. Members updated and reprinted Marjorie Cochrane's 1982 book, “Between Two Rivers,” in 1997. The group also arranged and videotaped interviews with about 24 homesteaders who helped settle the area.

Sensing they needed a boost of energy, Historical Society members held a retreat last March to set a course for the future.

“The retreat just made us sit down and look at ourselves and say, ÔHey, are we doing what we need to be doing?'” Kirk said. “It brought a lot of things to our attention.”

Charlie Adams, a board member and owner of Leading EDGE Consulting in Chugiak, facilitated the daylong meeting. By the end, she and the other members had created a tightly defined mission statement, cut down the number of committees by one-third, and created specific action items for each committee.

Since the retreat, the Historical Society has accelerated its pace and coaxed its technology into the 21st Century. For example, Kirk applied for and recently received a $5,000 grant from the state Legislature for the group to purchase computers and an indexing program, allowing volunteers to catalog the area's old newspapers.

Volunteer Maxine Andrews created the group's first Web site (cerhs.org). Volunteer James Conley transferred the videotaped interviews of the area's homesteaders onto DVDs, which are now available for purchase from the Historical Society.

The Historical Society has been searching for new space almost since the beginning. In 1995 the Chugiak Senior Center donated a small building and in 1996 an architect from USKH in Anchorage drew up plans for renovating it, but ultimately the job proved too costly, Kirk said.

“It turned out the building wasn't suitable for what we needed,” she said.

The Historical Society eventually donated the structure to the Eagle River Museum of Natural History for storage.

Over the years, the group has explored many other avenues for expanding its quarters.

Today members are hoping to secure space in the new Eagle River Town Center, though Kirk said no one has made any promises.

Kirk and others have some definite ideas about the direction they want the Historical Society to take.

“I would like to see us better used by the public,” Kirk said. “For instance, if people could come in and use our computers to do research and see what was in the old newspapers.”

“I hope we'll have everything catalogued and accessible to the public in the future,” Richmond said. “Everything we've got could be available online.”

What if they could have it all?

“My dream is for an older-style building, like a log-cabin house that is really a museum, with a workspace downstairs and a storage area,” Kirk said. “It would have a place for quilt displays and a whole media room.”

“I would like to have a huge museum with family portraits and blurbs on every portrait about their contributions to the community,” Richmond said. “And touch screens so you could learn more and hear the stories in people's own words.”

Until that happens, the Historical Society will continue to make the most of its members' talents and ideas.

Board member Darlene Halverson will offer a six-week-long class on writing one's life story at the Chugiak Senior Center each Friday from 2-4 p.m. beginning Oct. 10. The class is free and open to the public.

Also open to the public is the Historical Society's general membership meeting Friday at 7 p.m. at the Paul Swanson Building in Chugiak (Mile 19 of the Old Glenn HighwayÑacross from the Forget-me-not Cottage).

Kirk said the name of the program is “Chugiak 50 Years Ago” and will provide a peek into what the local area was like during Alaska's struggle for statehood.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, October 2, 2008.