Spotlight on Tinker Volunteers

Since the Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum opened it’s doors in 1943, our volunteers have been the heartbeat of the museum! Throughout the years, volunteers have cleaned, cared, advocated, researched, guided, gardened, and most of all loved this museum.  Although volunteer roles have changed and professional staff have taken over some of these roles (guess who does the cleaning now?), volunteers are still a huge part of what we do at Tinker! From our wonderful docents (tour guides) who lead guests through the Cottage, to our cashiers in the museum store and our fabulous gardeners who tend to our grounds, volunteers still are essential. We would love to thank each and everyone for their service to the museum! We can not say it enough !!!!!

So why not meet one or two of these special people?

Michelle Meyers was selected as the 2014 recipient of the Ruth Lunde Volunteer of the Year award. Michelle has dedicated herself to serve over 100+ volunteer hours at Tinker as a cashier, docent, special events volunteer and as a researcher. This year, she has conducted a variety of research for the Cottage, finding a few unusual anomalies about the past that has provoked more research about the family.  Michelle has helped with many school groups and special tours of the Cottage allowing the staff to count on her when in a pinch! She says that she driven to volunteer because,” is deeply in love with the house and the the man who created it.”

Gail Zahm was a recipient of the 2014 Illinois Association of Museums Silver Service Award for her 42 years of volunteer work at the museum. The Silver Service Awards will be given to recognize volunteers with at least 25 long years of faithful service at an institution.

Gail began her volunteer career in the fall of 1972; she volunteered to take a shift in the parlor during a Junior League event in the Cottage. Before the year was out, Gail was the treasurer of the board. She would faithfully serve on the board throughout the next 25 years.  Gail has continued to volunteer as a Docent, guiding visitors on tours of the Cottage and donating over 4,000+ volunteer hours!

When asked why she dedicated so much of her time to volunteer at Tinker, Gail’s answer was simple. As a teacher by vocation, Gail said, “Being a Docent is like teaching. When I guide first time visitors and tell them the story of the cottage and its part in the community history, they get excited. That is the reward, pure and simple.”

Want to know more about volunteering at Tinker? Click below!

 http://www.tinkercottage.com/volunteers.html