Jeff Schmitt Elected President of Dubois County Museum Board of Directors

The Dubois County Museum Board of Directors held their reorganizational meeting Thursday, January 22, and have elected Jeff Schmitt as President of the Board. Reelected to the other officer positions were Victor Betz as Vice-president, Julia Flynn as Treasurer and Joann Schnarr as Secretary. The Board recognized two members who have decided to step down from the Board. Bruce Heeke will be stepping away after six years on the Board, while serving as President the past two years. Margaret “Peg” Wagner also has stepped down. She served many years on the Board as Treasurer and as Membership Chairman. The Board thanks them for their service.

The members of Museum Board of Directors are Kathy Bachman, W. Jean Hoffman, Joe Shelton, Elaine Hopf, Gary Eck, Gene Welp, Terry Flick, Taylor O’Bryan, Vicki Wiederkehr, Dr. Ryan Flamion, Sandy Miller and Kurt Vonderheide. Cheryl Sermersheim returns to the Board.

Jeff Schmitt, from Haysville, has been a volunteer at the museum since 2020. He became a member of the board in 2023 acting as Recording Secretary in 2023 and 2024. He then took on the Chairman of the Collections Department in 2024, filling in the vacancy left by longtime Collections Chair, Mary Ann Hayes. He oversees the six volunteers that work in the Collections area with the collecting, cataloging and preserving the over 66,000 pieces of artifacts collected by the museum.

About the museum

The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m.-2:00pm, Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-4:00pm and Sunday 1:00-4:00pm. Closed on Monday.

Admission of $5 per adult, $3 for high school students, and $2 for middle and elementary students is charged. Visitors four and under are free. Those holding a current Dubois County Museum Membership are granted free admission.

The Dubois County Museum is a local nonprofit organization committed to the collection, preservation and interpretation of historical artifacts and information important to the citizens of the county. Museum operations are funded by annual memberships, admissions, donations and gifts from visitors, area residents and businesses. It is operated entirely by volunteers. It is located in Jasper at 2704 N. Newton Street (US231). Call (812) 634-7733. Please allow two hours to view exhibits.