The Pioneer Museum is 60 years old this month and we are celebrating! You are invited to join us for a community picnic on the green next to the museum. Bring a picnic lunch or grab a bite at the farmers’ market. Pack some folding chairs or a blanket into your car and join us for a fun packed afternoon for the whole family. The celebration begins at 11 a.m. on May 14.

To celebrate the museum’s 60th birthday, we are serving free cake and ice cream for all, thanks to the generosity of Island Market. Kids can also enjoy root beer floats. There will also be old-fashioned games on the lawn (weather permitting) such as sack races, three legged races and tug of war with fun prizes for the winners.

The Pioneer Museum will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with free admission to celebrate its birthday. We will unveil our Orcas Island Historical Timeline and you are welcome to add the date your family moved to Orcas Island. The timeline will remain on exhibit at the pioneer museum for the rest of the year. There will also be a mortgage burning to celebrate the paying off of our mortgage on the museum.

May 14 also marks the first day of the summer season for the Pioneer Museum, and we will be officially opening our new featured exhibit for this year: “Wings Over Orcas Island: An Aviation History.” Historical Society Director Clark McAbee will be on hand to share what he has learned about the early days of aviation on Orcas.

Sixty years ago, a small group of far-sighted individuals on Orcas made arrangements to have four homestead cabins, built between 1870 and 1890, moved from various places on Orcas Island into the center of Eastsound, where they were reassembled, repaired and joined together to create the Pioneer Museum. Several years later, two more cabins were added to form the core of the museum as it is today. The Orcas Island Historical Society operates the Pioneer Museum 11 months of the year, and opens the Crow Valley School Museum on weekends during the summer.