Santa arrived early at the Bristow Train Depot and brought with him the great news that the Bristow Historical Society has won two grants to help with their goal of preserving, protecting and sharing Bristow's amazing history. The first grant awarded to the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. is a grant from the Oklahoma Historical Society's Oklahoma Preservation Grant program. This grant provided funding to place a custombuilt kiosk at the depot which will link today's technology to yesterday's history. Museum visitors will be able to hear and see the history of the depot and caboose, local history, or our oral histories as the story plays out before their eyes and ears on the kiosk. After hearing a short segment on the selected topic, visitors will be able to use their phones to scan the QR code, which will take them to the full-length topic discussion. The president of the Michigan based company which built our kiosk visited the depot before beginning the project and created a kiosk which fits in perfectly with the construction and decor of our beautiful depot. The museum volunteers promised Santa they would work hard to get the new kiosk loaded with amazing stories and photos for all to enjoy.
A second grant that the Historical Society recently won is from the National Endowment of the Humanities and Oklahoma Humanities. This grant provided funding for two part time jobs at the depot. Two museum archivists were hired to continue the work of our volunteers as they enter each museum artifact into the computerized database recommended by the Oklahoma Museums Association. Although very time consuming, their work will help improve the research abilities of our volunteers as well as help with display creation for the museum. Even more, with over 6,000 artifacts in our collection, the ability to track each and have its history available with the touch of a key stroke will be a huge time saving advantage at the depot and will further ensure the safety of the artifacts.
The volunteers at the depot work hard to provide a fun, educational visit to each visitor and are proud to share Bristow's history with thousands of visitors annually. Volunteering is a valuable way to give back to the community and since tourism is the third largest industry in Oklahoma, our local depot museum plays an important role in the Bristow economy. The depot giftshop is a great place for Christmas gift ideas and stocking stuffers. We encourage all of our readers to stop by and visit the depot soon and then, please consider volunteering. Giving back to Bristow is one of the nicest things about living in a small community like ours. Bristow's history matters.