Alumni showcase Metz at the museum

Band uniforms, sports trophies and academic awards are only a part of the Metz exhibit. Nancy Thompson is one of the Metz Alumni responsible for bringing these items out for the public to enjoy. --Nancy Malcom/Special to the Daily Mail

Metz -- the oldest town in Vernon County -- is being honored in a temporary exhibit in the Bushwhacker Museum throughout the summer.

Terry Ramsey, museum coordinator, explained, "The 'Never Ending Story' exhibit has been designed with a space for a temporary exhibit that can be changed each year. We use the space there as well as the walls of the east stairwell to put up an exhibit about a Vernon County town, business or family." Put together by Metz Alumni Nancy Thompson, Robert Seater and Kay Harper, the exhibit showcases the history of the town of Metz and its school.

Several years after the school closed in 1984, Seater and other alumni determined to locate, preserve and display school memorabilia including sports trophies, academic awards, band uniforms and graduating class photos.

Using two donated rooms in the Metz Banking Company building in Metz, the alumni have gathered a significant amount of artifacts and memorabilia.

Nancy Thompson, a 1967 graduate of the Metz school, is on the alumni committee that has arranged the school reunion for May 30 in Nevada. She is also a member of the Vernon County Historical Society and the Tri-County Genealogical Society.

"I grew up in Metz," Thompson said. "My aunt Madge was postmaster and my uncle Ed printed the town's newspaper, 'The Metz Times'. I have a tremendous interest in the history of this area and the people who lived here. My family goes back to the very first settlers here in Vernon County -- the Summers brothers who settled in the Metz Township." She paused then laughed. "I guess you'd say Metz was the 'beginning of civilization as we know it' here in Vernon County."

Ramsey knew about the Metz collection and contacted Thompson to see if they would put together an exhibit for the museum.

"Many of the items in the display cabinet and the shadow boxes are from our exhibit at the bank in Metz. Other items had to be collected, prepared, and incorporated into the exhibit in a way that helped tell the story of the Metz community," Thompson said.

The Bushwhacker Museum has some items specific to Metz in the exhibit, such as the original oil lamps from the Metz Christian Church. The museum also has a hand embroidered table cloth from the early 1900s, from the Otterbein United Brethren Church in Metz, and an embroidered friendship quilt from the United Methodist Church South in Metz.

Since most of the display items at Metz were all ready for the exhibit, it only took a month or so to coordinate the signage, complete the printing and frame the photos.

The display in the "Never Ending Story" part of the museum is only part of the entire Metz exhibit. Entering the museum, visitors will see a front page of a newspaper -- The Metz Times.

It was operated by Thompson's aunt and uncle, Madge and Ed Baze. Traveling down the staircase, visitors will see photos of Metz.

"This is the first time all these photos have been presented together to the public," Thompson said.

Most of the photos were provided by Madge Baze, Georgia Charles, and Virginia (Pettit) Peterson.

"Other people donated photos as well," Thompson said. "We hope if people see the exhibit they may offer their own photos for the display at the bank. The photos will be scanned and your original photo will be given back to you." The photos in the stairwell include one of Doctor Petty's building and others from the early 1900s.

All the items in the Metz exhibit will be returned to the Metz Bank building in Metz following this season.

The town of Metz was originally one and a quarter miles east of where it is now, near Reeds Creek.

The town was originally called Pleasant Valley, but the post office said there was another one already in Missouri. There was a war going on in Europe in that time period (1870-'71) and the town of Metz, France. was sometimes French and sometimes under control of Germany. So the Pleasant Valley was renamed "Metz" perhaps simply due to the frequency of that name appearing in the news.

The little town grew, but when the railroad bypassed it and ran its tracks about one and a quarter mile west, the town could have been doomed.

Dr. Petty was the first businessman who moved his business nearer to the railroad and the whole town eventually followed.

Ramsey had this to say about the Metz exhibit, "Nancy, Kay and Bob have done an outstanding job of telling the story of Metz through the photographs they have hung in the stairwell and the collections of memorabilia that they have used in the exhibit space. I can't imagine that anyone who has ever had a 'tie' to the Metz community will not walk away from the exhibit without a smile on their face and great memories running through their mind." She added, "It is difficult for younger people to realize just how important and vital these smaller county towns were and this exhibit offers the chance to gain a better understanding and appreciation of one of those Vernon County towns. One of my favorite quotes is, 'No place is a place until the things that have happened in it are remembered' by Wallace Stegner."

The annual Metz alumni all school banquet and meeting will be held at the Nevada Country Club beginning at 4:30 p.m. May 30. Prior to that, alumni can attend a special showing of the Metz exhibit at the Bushwhacker Museum and see a slide show there of previous reunions from noon to 2 p.m. The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Alumni should call Colleen Reed to register for the meal and for more information about the reunion. Her number is (660) 643-7420.

"I hope other small towns will be encouraged to tell their own story," Thompson said. "An exhibit like this helps everyone remember the town, its businesses and the people."