Geauga County Historical Society, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, operates Century Village Museum in Burton, Ohio, a 65-acre living history museum, and is seeking a Museum Store Manager.  Qualified applicant will have 3 years minimum retail management experience.  Responsibilities include among other things developing & implementing merchandising plan, budgeting, inventory control, using Quickbooks Point-of-Sale system, managing retail sales associates & volunteers, coordinating with main office, managing on-line sales.  Weekend work required.   This is a part-time seasonal position.  Send Resume and salary requirements by April 27 to Geauga County Historical Society, PO Box 153, Burton, OH  44021(attention Curator) or email to Curator@geaugahistorical.org.  Visit us at www.centuryvillagemuseum.org.

Responsibilities:

1)            Formulate a retail operations budget.

2)            With Bookkeeper, establish accounting procedures and maintain accurate records.

3)            Develop merchandising plan to include product selection, store layout plan, effective visual displays, includes merchandising for maximum impact.

4)            Manage inventory.

5)            Explore product sources.

6)            Recruit, select and train retail Sales Associates.

7)            Manage volunteers to work in store.

8)            Coordinate with Marketing Director to promote the retail operations.

9)            Maintain positive customer relations through superior customer service.

10)          Manage the on-line store.

11)          Manage gift basket marketing and sales.

12)          Attend staff meetings and other meetings, if required.

13)          Perform other tasks as needed for a successful retail operation including self-study of available literature.

Thanks to a partnership with Cleveland State University’s Center for Public History and Digital Humanities, we are proud to announce a new mobile application here at Century Village Museum! 

“Geauga Historical” will be launched this spring and will allow users to tour the museum and a variety of Geauga County historical sites for free right from their smartphones, tablets, and other digital devices.  The application is based on the platform created by the Center for Public History and Digital Humanities, Cleveland Historical.  Both “Cleveland Historical” and “Geauga Historical” allow you to learn about the region through layered, map-based, multimedia presentations, use social media to share your stories, and experience curated historical tours of Northeast Ohio right from your own personal device.  The same as it’s counterpart, “Geauga Historical” will be available in the iOS App Store and the Android Marketplace.

This application will not only help us reach out to new audiences, but it will also allow us to work collaboratively with historical societies and organizations in Geauga County to promote our region and the vast and diverse history we have here.  Buildings and sites throughout the museum and county will be put into individualized tours where application users can view inside photos, find building locations, listen to audio, and gather an indepth view of our history that is rarely available.

As we continue on in this planning and content development process, we welcome local historians to get involved in helping us create specialized tours throughout Geauga County.  For more information on how to become involved in this process, please contact Elizabeth Wantz, Curator and Director of Century Village Museum, at 440-834-1492.

This year we are combining two of our holiday events into one!  On November 26th & 27th and again on December 3rd & 4th, Century Village Museum will open its flagship home, the Hickox Brick, and the Umberfield Cabin for holiday wanderers, shoppers, and visitors.  Each building will be decorated with natural ornaments and garlands, and filled with Victorian children’s games and holiday cheer.  We welcome you to join us in visiting these buildings (for FREE!) as you travel throughout Burton doing your holiday shopping!

While we are speaking of shopping, on November 19th and 20th the Crossroads Museum Store will have a Christmas Open House.  The store will feature hand-crafted ornaments, decorative items, artisan-made gifts, specialty foods, and more.  Refreshments, door prizes, and gift wrapping will all be available!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The Shanower Library has been open for almost a quarter of a century, and we are so grateful to our volunteers that made the library and its collections all that it is.  To those dedicated volunteers, we thank you!!  As with all things, however, a changing of the guard was inevitable.  We are sad to see our dedicated librarians retire, but with our new librarians in place, we are proud to announce that the Shanower Library is thriving and continuing on in the tradition of those who created it.

The Shanower Library is not just continuing on though.  It is getting a facelift, becoming a temporary exhibit hall, going online, and hopefully becoming part of a larger online library database that will allow researchers from across the world to find information not only physically contained at Century Village Museum, but throughout all of Geauga County. 

In addition to these structural changes, we are also glad to say that the open hours of the Library are increasing!  The Shanower Library is now open Mondays from 1-4pm and Wednesdays from 10am-2pm. 

As we work through this change process, we look forward to your support!  If you have any Geauga County books, documents, family histories, photos, etc. that you would like to donate to the Shanower Library, please call 440-834-1492.  We look forward to sharing your history with the world!

On Saturday, October 15th and Saturday, October 22^nd guides will lead you through Century Village Museum and Burton’s very old local graveyard, while you listen to historical stories of past lives and some local ghostly lore.   Each tour lasts about 2 1/2 hours.

The tour includes historically accurate stories of the local area, some good “ghost stories”, and includes a shuttle bus ride to the local graveyard.   Get a good look at Revolutionary War veterans’ grave markers.   A light snack and beverage is included.  Tour times are 6:00 pm, 6:30 pm, 7:00 pm, 7:30 pm, and 8:00 pm.   The cost is $18 per person.  Pre-registration and pre-payment are necessary.   For more information, call the Goodwin House bed & Breakfast at 440-834-5060.

We hope to see you all here!

More information:  www.ghostsofburton.com

Ticket Sales: ghostsofburton.eventbrite.com

This year we are going all-out for our Apple Butter Festival.  We have 16 historic buildings opening, 2 dulcimer players, 7 historic artisans giving demonstrations, 2 quilt stores, 5 kettles full of apple butter, 3 bands, 2 quilt appraisers, 5 Interpreters, 2 educational programs, 6 Civil War re-enactors, 2 quilt guilds, 3 new displays…whew!  I haven’t even named all the delicious food vendors or children’s activities yet!

The Festival is this weekend, Oct. 8 & 9th from 10am-5pm.  We have quilt appraisals and artisan demonstrations happening all weekend (appraisals must be schedule in advance 440-834-1492), quilt programs and bands both afternoons, and historians available all throughout the grounds.

While you’re here, check out these other happening in Burton for the weekend!

Other Things to Enjoy in Burton during Apple Butter Festival weekend

During Century Village Museum’s Apple Butter Festival, all of Burton will be alive with exciting activities, so plan to visit and stay the entire day!

To wring in the Fall, a traditional Oktoberfest will be celebrated on the Burton Village Green.  Enjoy the vendors, delicious ox roast sandwiches and bratwursts, locally-brewed beer, and, of course, foot-stomping music!

The historic Burton Public Library on the village green will present the final 2 days of its 2011 Burton Art Show.  The show will be open Saturday October 8 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday October 9 from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm.

While at the library, browse the best used book sale in the area.  Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 4 pm.  Sunday is bag day – fill a bag with books for only a few dollars!  Proceeds support the Friends of the Burton Public Library.

Shop and dine at an old-fashioned church bazaar and luncheon to be held on Saturday October 8 from 10 am to 6 pm at one of Burton’s architectural jewels, the Burton Congregational Church, located right on the village green.

On Saturday evening, the Atwood-Mauck American Legion Post 459 is hosting a Dinner & Polka Dinner Dance with Dinner from 5 pm to 7 pm and Dance from 7 pm to 10 pm.  Located at 14052 Goodwin Street, Burton.  Call 440-834-8764 for prices.

Dr. Corey was a prominent physician here in Geauga County, and our own Maintenance Supervisor was actually one of the last babies under his care! 

We have everything displayed from 1800s wheelchairs and crutches to baby incubators and stereoptican skin disease cards.  It goes from the weird and gross to the innovative and life-saving.  As we opened each box of artifacts, new and intriguing objects came out and we sat laughing and reading the descriptions of each tool, kit, and test that was meant to cure all that ailed you – including cocaine pills and forks for amputations.

This building change came about due to our new educational tour that focuses on science and math.  Students and youth groups tour specific buildings through our grounds that all have to do with early medicine and scientific breakthroughs.  At the end of their tour, each child goes home with their very own handmade botanical research page that they collect and design on their tour here.

This is just one of the buildings that is getting a new look for the fall and winter season.  We have also changed the displays in the Law House and Cook House to a “Field to Fabric” display focusing on natural dyes, washing, spinning, and loom weaving.  The winter will bring about changes to our train depot as well, and our Tin Shop has been converted over to a Potter’s Shop.  Many of these changes will be on display for our Apple Butter Festival, but some you will just have to come back and visit us again for next year!

Past interns have created virtual exhibits that are now seen on our website www.geaugahistorical.org, and they have accessed complete fine art collections under the direction of the Curator.  All our internships are great learning experiences and are mutually beneficial to all involved!  Send your resume and cover letter to curator@geaugahistorical.org if you are interested.

Media Relations Intern

This intern will report directly to the Curator/Education Director and will be required to be in the office for 5 hours per week.  This internship will last one semester with the possibility of extension.  Specific duties include:

• Creating advertisements for the News Herald, Ohio Tourism, Geauga County and local newspapers
• Writing and creating our e-newsletter that is published once a month
• Re-designing our rental, education, and volunteer brochures as needed
• Maintaining our WordPress blog
• Other duties as needed and directed by the Curator/Education Director

Skills needed:  Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, Social Media, journalism, design, a good sense of humor

This internship is unpaid; copies of all ads and stories created will be the given to the intern to use as they need in resumes/portfolios.  All interested parties should send a resume and cover letter to curator@geaugahistorical.org.  Interns are accepted on a rolling basis.

Curatorial Intern

This intern will report directly to the Curator/Education Director and will be required to be in the office for 5 hours per week.  This internship will last one semester with the possibility of extension.  Specific duties include:

• Assisting the Curator in developing exhibit programs and layouts
• Assisting the Curatorial Assistant in inventorying the collection
• Maintaining proper cleanliness among the collections and historic buildings
• Completing research on specific temporary exhibits

Skills needed:  Microsoft Office, Past Perfect museum database (optional), design, ability to be flexible, willingness to get dirty, ability to work independently, a good sense of humor

This internship is unpaid; copies of exhibit materials created and research conducted will be the given to the intern to use as they need in resumes/portfolios.  All interested parties should send a resume and cover letter to curator@geaugahistorical.org.  Interns are accepted on a rolling basis.

Education Intern

This intern will report directly to the Curator/Education Director and will be required to be in the office for 5 hours per week.  This internship will last one semester with the possibility of extension.  Specific duties include:

• Conducting educational tours on Century Village Museum grounds
• Creating new educational programs with the direction of the Curator/Education Director
• Creating new outreach programs and assisting in educational PR efforts
• Contacting schools and universities to promote Century Village Museum education programs
• Assisting in preparing for the Educational Leaders Advisory Committee meetings held quarterly

Skills needed:  Microsoft Office, good phone skills, leadership, love of children, a good sense of humor

This internship is unpaid; copies of educational materials created and research conducted will be the given to the intern to use as they need in resumes/portfolios.  All interested parties should send a resume and cover letter to curator@geaugahistorical.org.  Interns are accepted on a rolling basis.

Special Event Intern

This intern will report directly to the Curator/Education Director and will be required to be in the office for 5 hours per week (on average) during May-August only.  This internship will focus on assisting with our Civil War Re-enactment, our Historic Engine Show, Pioneer School, and the Raccoon County Music Festival.  Specific duties include:

• Assisting the Curator/Education Director in securing advertisements for all events
• Coordinating vendor locations and open buildings for all events
• Scheduling and managing volunteers for all events
• Securing food vendors and proper licenses for all events

Skills needed: Leadership, good phone skills, patience, organization, and a good sense of humor

This internship is unpaid; copies of event materials created and vendors secured will be the given to the intern to use as they need in resumes/portfolios.  All interested parties should send a resume and cover letter to curator@geaugahistorical.org.  Interns are accepted on a rolling basis.

This year, we are happy to announce a new direction for GCHS.  We will be hosting an educational booth in the Heritage Building next to the weavers, blacksmiths, potters, broommakers, glassblowers, and rug hookers.  Not only are we surrounded by such amazing talent, but we are offering fair-goers the chance to show us some of their talent as well!

We will have a GIANT 3-foot basket ready and waiting for your memories.  Each fair-goer will have the opportunity to write with an old-fashioned quill pen and ink on muslin, and help us create a giant Memory Basket.  Simply write on your muslin strip a fond memory of Geauga County (or the fair or your family) and add your strip into the weaving of the basket.  Voila!  You will have helped us make a year-long commemoration to the history of Geauga County. 

We will also have hands-on artifacts, costumes, and a variety of information on life in the 1800s – all focused on Geauga County, of course!

Stop by and say ‘hello’!  We can’t wait to see you!

www.geaugafair.com

(and if you are looking for our store merchandise, please be aware that our Crossroads Store at Century Village Museum will be open)