COBDEN - History has impacted the present for Union County, where volunteers efforts to open a museum earned a Governor's Hometown Award.

"It was the Union County Museum project and it was sponsored by the Union County Historical Society," said board member Patrick Brumleve about receiving the award. "It was concerning the opening of the museum in 2006. In the general category, we got first place for the Hometown Awards project."

Brumleve said it was only after the local volunteers attended the ceremony in Springfield that they learned Union County was also a finalist for the Governor's Cup Award, which was awarded to McLeansboro for work on a youth playground.

"We took over the contents of the former Cobden Museum," Brumleve said about the Union County project. "It has Native American artifacts, Anna pottery, exhibits on local industry and farming, and local history."

Brumleve said the museum is all volunteer-run and consists of a nine-member board and more than 30 people who do various projects and fundraisers throughout the year.

"We knew we had won in our category and we had received our plaque and everything," he said. "We knew there was a Governor's Cup category but that (winner) wasn't announced until the event. We were pleased and surprised very much."

Brumleve said the point of the state award is to document volunteerism. He said volunteer help is what made the museum possible in Union County.

"We received a lot of support throughout the county," he said. "A lot of volunteers were involved."

Fellow board member Judy Travelstead said the process of completing the project and receiving the award has been "beyond our wildest dreams."

"It involved both the restoration of the Du Bois Building as well as the establishment of the museum," she said. "So, we raised all of the money one dollar at a time."

The combination of grants and several donations didn't meet the funding needs Travelstead said, so the community came out in support with fundraisers, donated labor and donated materials.

"There would have been no way that we could have ever had the museum without the community support," she said. "We couldn't be more pleased."

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com/351-5824