Do you have a passion for historical items or perhaps you’ve secretly always wanted to be an archaeologist, climbing through the jungles like Indiana Jones searching for that one historical item that could change everything society has believed to be true for thousands of years? Does local history pique your interest as you scour through any number of local historical sites learning all you can about the history of the area?
If either of these things are true, while you won’t be roaming the jungles, the Lake Elsinore Museum, managed by the Lake Elsinore Historical Society, could be looking for you.
“We are very interested in finding people interested in volunteering at the museum. Our greatest need right now is for individuals interested in being a docent at the museum on the days it is open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 to 3 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.,” Lake Elsinore Historical Society President Kim McElroy said.
The museum likes to have at least two people on staff during the museum’s hours of operation but lost many of its volunteers during the life of the pandemic.
“We are stretched quite thin,” McElroy said. “If you ever thought you might enjoy helping at the museum we could sure use you now.”
Docents must be members of the museum and receive training before beginning to work there. If serving as a docent isn’t something of interest, there are other volunteer opportunities as well.
“We can use volunteers to help around the museum with maintaining our collection as well as identifying and researching many of our artifacts,” McElroy said. “Lynda Fujino and Mary Ann Mealy have been heading up this project and would be happy to help train some of you to assist with their efforts.”
McElroy said that she would be spending the summer months working on finding new volunteers for the museum.
“If you have any interest in learning more about the artifacts, sharing their stories with the community, giving talks about Lake Elsinore, helping at special events, teaching others about our history, researching questions from the public, assisting with our social media efforts and many more possibilities, we would love to hear from you,” McElroy said.
Those interested in volunteering should send McElroy an email at kimdav138@gmail.com.
“If you are unable to volunteer but know of someone who you think would enjoy it, share the information with them as well,” she said.
The Lake Elsinore Historical Society doesn’t meet in July or August, but the museum remains open, so McElroy said while the need to find volunteers is important, she wanted to thank everyone for their support of the facility.
“We definitely appreciate the support you have each shown over the years and hope to provide the services you had enjoyed in the past as we work to find yet new ways to share our history with our community.”
The annual cost of membership is $25 for individuals and $35 for families. Applications are available at the museum.
The Lake Elsinore Historical Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month at the Lake Elsinore Historical Society Museum and Research Library, 183 N. Main Street, in the basement of the Cultural Building. The next meeting will be held in September.
Kim Harris can be reached by email at valleyeditor@reedermedia.com.
