April 10, 2023 |
Photo – Carbon County Museum – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Carbon County Museum is asking residents to share their stories about the area and recent winter.
Carbon County Museum Director Tom Mensik has a slogan, of sorts. “History is happening now, and YOU are part of it.” With this idea in mind, Mensik has put out a call to Carbon County residents asking for their personal stories.
Our winter has been described as a “once in a generation” event. While it wasn’t nearly as devastating as the infamous blizzard of 1949, winter storm Olive did have a serious effect on people’s lives. The heavy snowfall and high wind gusts caused massive pileups on the interstate and trapped people in their homes for weeks. Mensik said in the future, people may wish to learn about the so-called blizzard of ‘23 and he would like to have a record of personal experiences, whether good or bad.
As of the reporting of this story, Mensik hasn’t collected stories from anyone aside from museum staff. He asked for pictures or video of large snow drifts from this winter. Mensik said to contact the museum online to share your experiences.
Mensik said he would like to begin compiling the stories into a video or series of videos by early summer. He asked anyone, with a story to tell, to contact him before the end of this month.
As well as being permanently stored in the museum for future exhibitions, the videos will also be available online. Since he took over as director of the Carbon County Museum last September, Mensik has been working to increase the facility’s online presence by posting historical information on social media. Mensik said the museum’s YouTube channel is growing. He said the museum’s social media focus is on more contemporary history.
Mensik asked people to visit the museum’s YouTube channel to see more videos about local history. The museum director said he would like to collect anecdotes not only about this winter, but about people’s lives in general.
History is happening all the time and you are part of it. If you have a story to share, contact the Carbon County Museum’s Facebook page or email info@carboncountymuseum.org before April 28th.
