Donations add to museum collection

Guy B. Woodward Museum in Ramona recently received several noteworthy items, said Bert Byrne, publicity chairman of the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society, which operates the museum.

Former Ramona Postmaster Paul Lewis has donated a 1926 pedestal collection mailbox.

In 1888 Emily Mary Gunn, grandmother of Ramona resident Jakki Leap, painted a portrait of her sister, Elizabeth Gunn. Emily studied painting at the Louvre Apox in France.

The historic portrait was donated by Leap and her husband, Richard. The Leaps have also given four Bentwood oak chairs, circa 1940, to the museum.

In addition, Millie and Ralph Gurzi of Ramona have given an 1894 reproduction of a woman’s dress and several old doll dresses.

Destined to become a centerpiece in the museum’s schoolhouse, the Van Slyke family has donated an 1800’s school desk from Indiana. This historic handmade desk, used in a one-room school in the Hoosier state, illustrates the days when parents were required to make their children’s desks.

The Guy B. Woodward Museum, at 645 Main St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays and by appointment.

More information about the museum or about joining the historical society is at 789-7644.