PEOPLE OF INTEREST
LINDA GEARY
LaVaine Wrigley, collections manager for the Martin County Historical Society, proudly displays her wedding gown
— which was up-cycled from a silk parachute — at an Elliott Museum exhibit.
BY DONNA CRARY
When LaVaine Wrigley walked into the original
Elliott Museum in the summer of 1996, she was
looking for a volunteer position to keep her busy
for a couple of days a week. As a 70-year-old
with secretarial experience, she wasn’t quite ready to retire.
So she inquired to find meaningful work.
“The woman in charge said, ‘If you can just answer the
phone for me,’” she recalls. “I said, ‘How can I answer the
phone? I don’t know anything about this place.’ She said,
‘You will, once you answer the questions that they ask.’”
Within hours, Wrigley was fielding phone calls that came
in to the museum.
“They would call and ask questions like, ‘Is the beach
crowded? Are the waves up? How’s the parking?’” she remembers
with a laugh. “So, that’s how I started out.”
What began as a volunteer job developed over time into
an indispensable position with the Martin County Historical
Society. Within a few months, Wrigley’s value to the organization
became obvious and she was put on the payroll.
Her first position involved general office work and oversee-
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The MUSEUM KEEPER