Everly's history now has a home.

After more than two years of planning, the Everly Heritage Museum is set to host its grand opening on Friday and Saturday. The building, located directly south of the library on Main Street, is home to a variety of displays ranging from Everly Cattlefeeders memorabilia and trophies, collectables from former businesses, and tributes to local veterans.

Steering committee member Connie Goeken said the grand opening will be a big day for Everly. The idea for the museum came following the closure of the Clay Central/Everly 7-12 grade school in 2019, and she believed its addition was a positive step for the community.

"A lot of a town's identity is centered on the school and we felt that even if the school didn't exist anymore, we could step in to help keep that identity alive," she said. "Part of our mission statement is 'to acquire, document, protect, preserve and exhibit the unique physical and cultural history that reflects the story of Everly.' It's important for those of us who have lived here to see and hear those stories, but it's also important for other people to have that experience."

The museum's creation was born from the spirit of community. More than a dozen individuals helped gather items and set up the building, which was donated by Evertek. Dozens more donated items to fill the walls and displays, whether that meant gifting old Cattlefeeders jerseys or providing photos from yesteryear.

Goeken and other steering committee members were blown away by the support. The museum was open for a sneak peak during the fire department's centennial celebration in July, which was well attended.

A majority of visitors spent time pouring over photos from their days at Moneta, Everly or CC/E. The girls' basketball display, which is the facility's main attraction, was also a hit.

"It's a very personal thing for people to look back at themselves and their classmates, and it sparks a lot of conversations and reminiscing," Goeken said. "There is still a tremendous amount of pride in what the teams accomplished and how Everly supported their efforts."

The hardest job for the steering committee was determining what they wanted in the building. None of them has a background in furnishing a museum, which necessitated a bit of on-the-job training.

The pandemic also slowed momentum. Organizers had hoped to have the museum open by now, but COVID-19 made that impossible. Nonetheless, they persevered and got to the finish line.

"The biggest question we've faced in putting the exhibits together was figuring out the story we wanted to tell about each subject," Goeken explained. "Learning to condense information into a form that hits the important facts and, at the same time makes them interesting, is a skill we've had to learn. There is a lot of research involved."

Having people on hand who know the community's history backwards and forwards helps. According to Goeken, Cindy Fliss and Bev Rinehart were "a human database" for the project.

"They know where everything is, what papers we have, which photos are in which boxes," she said. "We would never have been able to make sense of all the artifact donations we've received without their organizational skills."

Connie Goeken

The steering committee is ecstatic about Friday's ribbon cutting and welcomed everyone to attend.

"This project has really turned into a labor of love for those of us on the committee. I don't think any of us realized in the beginning how much pride we'd have in making this museum happen and, frankly, how much we'd learn about the place we've lived all our lives," Goeken said. "It has truly been a remarkable experience."