After several months of upheaval, the Talkeetna Historical Society has a new board of directors.

Past President of the society, Rich Crain, said he was gladly handing over the reins and was off to ‘follow his bliss’ .

In February, several community members stepped in to keep the society together when it was discovered that there wasn’t a board of directors left to direct the society and that Rich Crain was the only one left to hire a new curator.  Announcements were made to get interested individuals on the board and ballots were mailed according to bylaws.

The new board of directors was seated by Crain Tuesday evening.  Kym Swift was elected as president.  Tom Waite is vice president, Sandra Loomis is Secretary and Melissa Bristow is Treasurer. Todd Basilone, Deborah Windham and Erica Valentine were also elected to the board.

The board has a lot to accomplish in a short time.  The doors to the museum officially open when the first tourist train arrives on May 18^th.  Between now and then, the directors need to hire a new curator and get files in order.

An executive planning session is scheduled to set goals and establish committees, and a hiring committee is meeting soon to review curator applications.  The board hopes to have a new curator in place close to May 1^st.

The board changed the monthly meeting date from the second Tuesday of the month to the third Tuesday of the month, hoping to avoid conflict with other local meetings.

The next regular meeting of the board is set for the third Tuesday in May.