the work was so rewarding. Preserving the history of a town that had never been interested in doing that before was thrilling. Working with a great board of directors made the dream come alive and together we were able to preserve the identity of the town with it's past history. Even though we were all volunteers, the four years I served as Executive Director were years I will never forget.

The biggest stress came on days we conducted festivals or living history events. As a Historical association, we continually held fundraisers and festivals in our small town to draw attention to our projects, and our tourist attraction. As the creator of many of these events, I was most concerned that everything would go according to plan, so the stress level was always high.

I was the founder for the Association because there was a need for the small town of Elm Springs to discover their uniqueness and identity. The town of Elm Springs played an important part in America's Civil War. The town was a training camp for soldiers during the Civil War and boasted up to 10,000 troops camping around the springs in the town. I loved putting together a 501C3 preservation association that brought this information to light and we established a heritage center and an outdoor metal art gallery to tell the story of the town.