Rockwall County Historical Foundation welcomes new trustees to the board

RCHF 2023 Board of Trustees. Back Row: Amanda Ravetta, Mark Russo, Mitchell Brown. Middle Row: Linda DeBree, Sarah Keeney, Evan Tate. Front Row: Jessica Burgess, Patty Griffin, Johnny Myers. Not pictured: Wayne Baxter, James Canup, Jennifer Rumbo Drake and Dalton Tassett. Also pictured is State Representative Justin Holland, who swore in the new board.

ROCKWALL, TX (Jan. 23, 2023) The Rockwall County Historical Foundation added new history-loving folks from Rockwall County to their Board of Trustees at their annual meeting on January 15. New trustees include Wayne Baxter, Mitchell Brown, James Canup, and Patty Griffin.

Evan Tate is the 2023 Board President, with Johnny Myers as President-Elect; Jessica Burgess, secretary; Sarah Keeney, past-president; Trustees at-large include Linda DeBree, Patty Griffin, Amanda Ravetta, Jennifer Rumbo Drake, Dalton Tassett, Mark Russo, James Canup, Mitchell Brown, and Wayne Baxter.

During the annual meeting, updated bylaws for the Board of Trustees were discussed, voted on, and passed. Mark Russo, who would have rolled off the Board this year, was voted in as a Trustee. Past-President Sarah Keeney reported on the accomplishments of the Foundation over the last year including grants received, hiring an Executive Director and a Programs Manager, new website, updating and adopting core documents and a strategic plan. Incoming President Evan Tate talked about his goals for the coming year including a county-wide community calendar, fundraising opportunities, and how to the get the Foundation and Museum out into the community more.

Executive Director Katie Conrad also presented on some goals for the coming year such as the remodeling of collections storage, more public programming, digitizing collections, working on ADA accessible programming and virtual field trips, expanding research files, and activities for the County’s sesquicentennial.

Over the past year the museum had visitors from 32 Texas cities, 14 states, and 4 countries. The Rockwall County Historical Foundation is not affiliated with the City or County of Rockwall. The houses, gazebo, tenant cabin, rock wall, well, windmill, and carriage house are private property. The gazebo is available to rent all year round. When using our facilities, we ask that you treat them with respect, leave no trace, and donate to their upkeep.

Got history? Don’t throw it out – bring it to the museum! RCHF is always looking for Rockwall County history and there are many ways to donate! Funds, sponsorships, photos, documents, and artifacts are always welcome. To donate, stop by the museum or email us at rockwallhistory@gmail.com. The museum is open Thursday – Saturday, 10am – 3pm. Information can be found on our Facebook page and our website, www.rockwallcountymuseum.com.

Submitted press release.