Beaufort History Museum Announces Annual Meeting

Members and Public Invited

            Beaufort, SC – December 14, 2017 - Museum members and the public are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Beaufort History Museum (BHM) on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 6:00 PM in the Museum’s main hall on the second floor of The Arsenal, located at 713 Craven St.

At the meeting, milestones of the past year will be celebrated and plans for 2018 will be revealed, including a preview of the exciting renovation of the Museum’s main exhibit hall, which is scheduled to open to the public in spring 2018. Current Museum members also will vote on a slate of Board of Directors nominees (all of whom are existing Board members). The slate will be presented to BHM members in advance of the annual meeting via email.

Nominees for a second three-year term on the Board of Directors are:

• Lorrie Burleyknoles, a member of the Museum’s Board of Directors since January 2015, has been instrumental in the development of BHM’s Docent Program and chairs BHM’s Volunteers Committee. She studied environmental geology and Russian linguistics, but pursued careers in retail/restaurant management and small-business ownership so that she could follow her husband through a career requiring constant relocation. Originally from California, Lorrie settled in Beaufort to raise her family. She volunteered as a child collecting entry donations to support the museum her father co-founded. 

She has devoted time to the U.S. Geological Survey, California Food Share, American Truck Historical Society, the Marine Corps KW/KVN and Family Readiness programs, Naval Ombudsmen Program, School Improvement Council, and the Beaufort Symphony Youth Orchestra. 

Carol Lauvray joined the Museum as a docent in 2013 and was elected to BHM’s Board of Directors in January 2015. She has served as President of the Board since December 2015 and is also a member of the Museum’s Marketing and Communications Committee. Carol represents the Museum as a member of the City of Beaufort’s Cultural District Advisory Board. In addition to her volunteer activities on behalf of BHM, she is a contributing writer for the local magazine, Beaufort Lifestyle. 

Before moving to Beaufort in 2011, Carol was a marketing and communications professional for more than 20 years and worked for Nationwide Financial Services in Columbus, Ohio, part of Nationwide Insurance Company. She graduated magna cum laude from Otterbein College with a bachelor’s degree in business and organizational communication; earned a masters in organizational communication from Ohio University; and attended Bowling Green State University for post-graduate studies in organizational development.

• Carla Marsh, a member of the Museum’s Board of Directors since January 2015 and co-chair of BHM’s Marketing and Communications Committee, recently retired from a career in public relations and marketing with an office in Boca Raton, Fla. Before establishing her own company in 1991, she was a vice president of a leading Fort Lauderdale public relations firm with which she was associated for eight years. A former news, sports and features writer, she graduated with a BA in Journalism from the University of Michigan, where she was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Marsh served on the boards of the Boca Raton Historical Society and the South Florida’s “No Kid Hungry” Taste of the Nation fundraising event steering committee. 

She also was co-founding chairwoman of Boca Bacchanal Winefest Weekend, the largest fundraiser of the Boca Raton Historical Society and one of the largest food and wine events in Florida. She currently serves on the board of directors of a top Charlotte, N.C. real estate development company. She joined the Beaufort History Museum in 2014 and became part of the Docent staff. 

Board President Carol Lauvray announced the annual meeting and also provided a preview of events sponsored by the Museum that will take place in the coming months. Included are:

• February – April 2018:  Ongoing presentation of the popular History Lecture Series.  This series, developed in partnership with the Beaufort Public Library, has presented lectures on Beaufort District history, which have been filled to capacity.

• Saturday, March 24, 2018: The third annual living history encampment in the Arsenal Courtyard featuring Civil War era re-enactors in period dress.
• Tuesday, May 8, 2018: The fourth annual Beaufort History Museum Tea, a fundraiser, The Language of Libations, to be held at the Dataw Island Club.

Refreshments to follow:

Following the annual meeting, a reception featuring hors d’ oeuvres and wines will be held at 7:00 PM at the Museum.

Those who wish to renew their Museum memberships or to become new members, may do so at the meeting or by clicking here.

The Beaufort History Museum, which was founded in 1939, has evolved to focus specifically on the deep and rich history of the Beaufort District.  It strives to manage and display artifacts and documents held by the City of Beaufort, telling the compelling stories of this area from the early 16^th Century until modern times.