Fundraiser Idea that Grew
Ralph Bynum
In 2007, Ralph Bynum, Board of the Directors Vice President, stopped by my desk and announced, "We need to have a fundraiser. Let's have a tractor show."
As casual as the announcement was made, Ralph immediately began planning. He posted a yearly calendar on the wall of the office and began filling the dates with the necessary steps to make the fundraiser successful. I was still trying to absorb the idea and the first Museum Day was already underway!
I thought we needed to have more than "just tractors", so I suggested a "Pie Baking Contest." Ralph, thinking I meant "Pie Eating," quickly vetoed that idea. After I explained the difference in "Pie Baking" and "Pie Eating", that event was added.
Ralph's calendar kept us organized. He recruited Donnie Schuman and his crew to cook the lunch. They cooked 200 pounds of hamburger and 128 hot dogs. Visitors at 120 servings of peach cobbler and ice cream.
That first tractor show had 26 tractors, four trucks, and one car in the exhibit. Doug Beck, tractor show chairman, said the tractor parade included "Every tractor that would run!" A 1950 John Deere Model "B" tractor, owned by Audie Rackley of Amarillo, was named "Best Tractor."
The first "Pie Baking" contest was headed by Alexa Maples and included 25 pies in three categories -- Single Crust, Double Crust, and Cobbler. Bernice Schwertner won the single crust division; Sharon Trahern won the double crust division; and Peggy Ferguson won the cobbler division.
Next door, in The Art Center, a quilt show was organized by Chairmen Donna Myers and Margaret Nelson. The first quilt show displayed 27 quilts. The museum had a special display of ten quilts that were made prior to 1970. Lonna Lanning won a quilt named "In Bloom" made by Donna Myers.
The museum and art center were buzzing all day with activities. The Silent Auction had only 11 items. Small compared to the larger auction in later years that had well over 150 items. The auction was discontinued in 2020 due to COVID-19. That first year, there were 15 arts and crafts booths set up in the museum conference room and were busy with visitors all day. Entertainment was scheduled all during the dat with singers, small bands and musicians playing their instruments.
Outside, Longhorns from the Folsom Falls Ranch in New Mexico were wandering among the cars on the parking lot. The longhorns were 'tame as pets' according to the owners and were being ridden by cowboys.
Door prizes were awarded every 30 minutes and many visitors stopped to get their faces painted.
A car show was added in 2009 with Wayne Edwards as chairman. The show had 25 cars. A fiddle contest started in 2016 and members of that group continue to entertain at museum/art center events.
Thanks to Ralph who was a great volunteer here and all over town, his idea has grown over the years and is enjoyed by hundreds of visitors of each year.
When Ralph retired from the Conoco Phillips Plant in Borger, his interests turned to community service.
He had a niece who had Multiple Sclerosis and in 2000, he organized a Multiple Sclerosis Society Walk in Moore County to raise money for research. He continued the walk until his death.
He was a member of the board of directors of Window on the Plains Museum and was one of its most active volunteers. He received the Joyce Dillos Heritage Award in 2002 for his efforts in preserving Moore County history.
Other community organizations that benefitted from his work were The Art Center, Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Chamber of Commerce, Dumas Lions Club where he served as president in 2006, Rotary Club, and Killgore Memorial Library.
.He was named 2003 Volunteer of the Year by the All-American Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis Panhandle Chapter and was Citizen of the Year in 2004 by the Dumas and Moore County Chamber of Commerce.
I am sure the list of volunteer opportunities Ralph took advantage of is much longer than I know. I do know that he was busy from morning to night helping them.
Ralph was born November 19, 1940, and was one of eight boys and two girls in the Bynum family. He graduated from Pampa High School in 1959, served in the Army for three years, then in Texas National Guard for seven years.
After his death on April 9, 2009, a movement was started called, "Where's Ralph?" to encourage volunteerism and to honor Ralph.
His wife, Clo Ann, commented, "his service is like tossing a pebble across the lake... the circles keep going out and out and keep reverberating."
Chamber president, Sam Cartwright, described Ralph as... "that someone who got it done."
He certainly "got it done" for Window on the Plains Museum and as we celebrate our 16th event, Ralph will always be at the heart of Museum Day.
As casual as the announcement was made, Ralph immediately began planning. He posted a yearly calendar on the wall of the office and began filling the dates with the necessary steps to make the fundraiser successful. I was still trying to absorb the idea and the first Museum Day was already underway!
I thought we needed to have more than "just tractors", so I suggested a "Pie Baking Contest." Ralph, thinking I meant "Pie Eating," quickly vetoed that idea. After I explained the difference in "Pie Baking" and "Pie Eating", that event was added.
Ralph's calendar kept us organized. He recruited Donnie Schuman and his crew to cook the lunch. They cooked 200 pounds of hamburger and 128 hot dogs. Visitors at 120 servings of peach cobbler and ice cream.
That first tractor show had 26 tractors, four trucks, and one car in the exhibit. Doug Beck, tractor show chairman, said the tractor parade included "Every tractor that would run!" A 1950 John Deere Model "B" tractor, owned by Audie Rackley of Amarillo, was named "Best Tractor."
The first "Pie Baking" contest was headed by Alexa Maples and included 25 pies in three categories -- Single Crust, Double Crust, and Cobbler. Bernice Schwertner won the single crust division; Sharon Trahern won the double crust division; and Peggy Ferguson won the cobbler division.
Next door, in The Art Center, a quilt show was organized by Chairmen Donna Myers and Margaret Nelson. The first quilt show displayed 27 quilts. The museum had a special display of ten quilts that were made prior to 1970. Lonna Lanning won a quilt named "In Bloom" made by Donna Myers.
The museum and art center were buzzing all day with activities. The Silent Auction had only 11 items. Small compared to the larger auction in later years that had well over 150 items. The auction was discontinued in 2020 due to COVID-19. That first year, there were 15 arts and crafts booths set up in the museum conference room and were busy with visitors all day. Entertainment was scheduled all during the dat with singers, small bands and musicians playing their instruments.
Outside, Longhorns from the Folsom Falls Ranch in New Mexico were wandering among the cars on the parking lot. The longhorns were 'tame as pets' according to the owners and were being ridden by cowboys.
Door prizes were awarded every 30 minutes and many visitors stopped to get their faces painted.
A car show was added in 2009 with Wayne Edwards as chairman. The show had 25 cars. A fiddle contest started in 2016 and members of that group continue to entertain at museum/art center events.
Thanks to Ralph who was a great volunteer here and all over town, his idea has grown over the years and is enjoyed by hundreds of visitors of each year.
When Ralph retired from the Conoco Phillips Plant in Borger, his interests turned to community service.
He had a niece who had Multiple Sclerosis and in 2000, he organized a Multiple Sclerosis Society Walk in Moore County to raise money for research. He continued the walk until his death.
He was a member of the board of directors of Window on the Plains Museum and was one of its most active volunteers. He received the Joyce Dillos Heritage Award in 2002 for his efforts in preserving Moore County history.
Other community organizations that benefitted from his work were The Art Center, Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Chamber of Commerce, Dumas Lions Club where he served as president in 2006, Rotary Club, and Killgore Memorial Library.
.He was named 2003 Volunteer of the Year by the All-American Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis Panhandle Chapter and was Citizen of the Year in 2004 by the Dumas and Moore County Chamber of Commerce.
I am sure the list of volunteer opportunities Ralph took advantage of is much longer than I know. I do know that he was busy from morning to night helping them.
Ralph was born November 19, 1940, and was one of eight boys and two girls in the Bynum family. He graduated from Pampa High School in 1959, served in the Army for three years, then in Texas National Guard for seven years.
After his death on April 9, 2009, a movement was started called, "Where's Ralph?" to encourage volunteerism and to honor Ralph.
His wife, Clo Ann, commented, "his service is like tossing a pebble across the lake... the circles keep going out and out and keep reverberating."
Chamber president, Sam Cartwright, described Ralph as... "that someone who got it done."
He certainly "got it done" for Window on the Plains Museum and as we celebrate our 16th event, Ralph will always be at the heart of Museum Day.