Volunteers of the Year, Part 2

This is part two in a multi-part tribute to PHMC’s Volunteer of the Year honorees.


Last week, we introduced you (briefly) to 6 of this year’s Volunteer of the Year award recipients. All of our award winners were recognized at a ceremony at the State Museum of Pennsylvania on April 30. If you click on the name of the volunteer, you can read a bit more about his or her accomplishments. We thank them for their dedication to our historic sites and museums and for their many hours of service to the public.




As an advisor to Drake Well Museum’s Mobile Energy Education Training Unit (MEET-U), Dave Cook devoted more than 1,000 hours of his time in 2010. MEET-U covered over 7,000 miles as it traveled around Pennsylvania; Dave was behind the wheel for most of those and now serves as the chairperson for the mobile education program.




Bryan Dunnigan, a resident of Eckley Miners’ Village, is a leader in maintaining its historical integrity. He created and now interprets the Village’s blacksmithing operation, bringing life to the time-honored trade and delighting visitors; he also lends considerable support to the Traveling Trunk program for schoolchildren of all ages.




Willing to tackle many different jobs at Ephrata Cloister, Jane Woodruff assists with visitor services, guides tours (including bus groups), volunteers for the Community Days educational program (as well as other school programs), substitutes for other volunteers when needed, and provides home-baked treats for the monthly volunteer meetings.




Melanie Scott dedicated hundreds of hours to the Flagship Niagara League’s first ever Tall Ships Erie Festival, which raised more than $225,000 to support the sailing program. Drawing ships and visitors from throughout the Great Lakes, Tall Ships Erie was a huge success for the Erie Maritime Museum and Flagship Niagara.




An active member of the Friends of Graeme Park for over 10 years, Dr. Bruce B. Rader has served as a board member and active program volunteer. Whether behind the scenes or on the front lines portraying Dr. Benjamin Rush, Dr. Thomas Graeme, or (above) Blackbeard, he lends his support to every event and program.




M.J. Fischer supports Hope Lodge in many ways. For more than 25 years, she has been a board member, assisted with interior painting, organized special events, and worked in the garden. She works extensively on the annual reenactment of the 1777 Whitemarsh Encampment and has served as a historic weapons safety officer for the event.

We’ll introduce you to more honorees in future posts.