Preserving local history one picture at a time'

“Preserving local history one picture at a time” has been the life-long goal of Upper North Platte River Valley historian and Wyoming’s senior hall of fame newspaper publisher, editor, printer, reporter, paperboy and often janitor, Dick Perue.Over the past 70 years, the 87-year-old collector has preserved thousands of photos, negatives, manuscripts, news items, books, pamphlets and all sorts of scraps of paper of historical significance in what is known as the Dick Perue/Bob Martin collection. And now he plans to share a portion of that collection with the public, beginning with the annual meeting of the Grand Encampment Museum (GEM) Saturday, Sept. 30, at 4:00 p.m. in the Doc Culleton building, during which he will present a video/slide program featuring several hundred of the pictures which have been preserved over the years. Perue helped establish both the Grand Encampment and Saratoga Museums and has over the years served on both boards as well as contributed extensive historical material to each from the original Bob Martin collection as well as what he has added.The hour-long pictorial history program will follow the Grand Encampment Museum’s annual meeting and board of directors election. Candidates for the three open positions on the board are Ray Barkhurst, Heather Stubbs and Candy France. Presentation of annual reports, new and old business, refreshments and chatting will conclude the evening. According to a GEM news release, present board members are Mark Dunning, president; Dawn Bailey, vice-president; Heather Stubbs, treasurer; Anita Morris, secretary; Karen Dibber, Kathy Moon, Candy Moulton, Ray Barkhurst and Julie Davis.The GEM staff is Tim Nicklas, director; Lynda Johnson, textiles; Cathy Lynch, education coordinator, and Jerry Anderson, maintenance.