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Pictured,
L to R: Dr. Clay Johnson, Garst Museum Executive Director,
Dave and Mara Cox, Amber
DeRegnaucourt, and John Marchal, Darke County
Historical Society President.
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Darke County
Historical Society Presents Three Heritage Awards
CrossRoads to Destiny...
Established in 2004, the Darke County Historical Society’s Heritage
Award was created to recognize outstanding citizens or organizations
for their distinguished contributions or actions of unusual excellence
that help connect people to Darke County’s past.
At the Society’s 2012 Annual Meeting, Fred C. Brumbaugh, Dave and Mara
Cox, and Tony DeRegnaucourt (post-humously) were honored for their
exceptional volunteerism on the CrossRoads of Destiny project at the
Garst Museum.
Fred C. Brumbaugh, a native of Greenville, initiated the CrossRoads
exhibit development process. His goal was to upgrade the Museum’s
status and exhibits. He was continuing the family legacy of supporting
the museum. Mr. Brumbaugh’s grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Coppock,
and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Brumbaugh, were very instrumental
to the Museum’s early success.
Dave and Mara Cox, Greenville:
Mara Cox spent many hours, day and night, sewing and assembling the
prehistoric exhibits. She was the self-appointed historian and
photographer on the project, keeping numerous notebooks and photo
albums and doing work behind the scenes. She would place many of the
objects (think lots of arrowheads, flints, etc.) under the curator’s
direction. She located needed artifacts, hand sewed linen covers, and
assisted in attaching the artifacts for display.
Dave Cox spent a lot of time researching the CrossRoads exhibits. He
worked as part of the Dave Heckaman, Floyd Barmann team. Dave loves,
loves, loves archaeology; collecting, finding, researching and
investigating and restoring artifacts. He dedicated a tremendous amount
of time trying to figure out the original layout of GreeneVille. Dave
also portrays Anthony Wayne as an authentic reenactor. Dave was an
amazing volunteer, spending a great deal of time conferring on the
CrossRoads project. Dave’s dedication was all for the love of history.
Tony DeRegnaucourt of Arcanum was also an important volunteer in the
development of the CrossRoads exhibit. Tony was a professional
archeologist and history was his passion. He had a photographic memory
for history long past. Sadly, he passed away in October. His daughter,
Amber, accepted his award. Tony was key in identifying all the exhibit
artifacts. Dave Cox spurred him on, recognizing Tony’s genius and in
return, Tony taught Dave about archaeology and artifacts. Tony became
the go-to expert when someone had an artifact that they wanted
identified. He and Dr. Cox conducted research and digs in the Fort
Greeneville and Fort Recovery area. Tony authored numerous books, some
of which are for sale in the Garst Museum Store. He also presented
several seminars at the museum.
The process of rebuilding the exhibit was long and tedious. Also
working on the project were Floyd Barmann who acted as curator and Dave
Heckaman as the researcher and cataloger. Others who were employed on
the project were Dusty Nealeigh, owner of Reinventions and Garst
employee Nancy Stump was involved part-time. Additionally, Karen Hassel
of the Ohio Historical Society and Mr. Featheringill assisted.
The planning stages involved constant activity, discussion, handling of
artifacts, photographing, computer work, arranging, rearranging,
measuring and keeping the museum informed. Some days it was not unusual
to leave at 1:30 AM, go home and return the next morning to start
again. The result of their work is an outstanding exhibit that
illustrates the important contribution that Darke County made to the
history of the country.
The Garst Museum is located at:
205 N. Broadway, Greenville, OH 45331
937-548-5250
web site: www.garstmuseum.org
email: information@garstmuseum.org
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