Scanner donation helps disciminate Ralls history
Ron Leake, president of the Ralls County Historical Society, operates the scanner recently donated by Continental Cement Co. He is hopeful of digitizing documents and photos, so they can be shared on the internet. Contributed photo
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
A Facebook posting on behalf of the Ralls County Historical Society recently resulted in the donation of a new document scanner by Continental Cement.
Stephanie Whaley, administrative business parter at Continental Cement Co., said, “Since the plant is in Ralls County, we are very intentional about supporting Ralls initiatives.”
The gift came about when Whaley, who lives in Center, saw a Facebook post that caught her attention.
Delores Woodhurst, vice president of the historical society, is friends with Whaley on Facebook. “Delores was a school administrator when I was a school teacher, so we already knew each other. In addition, Delores’ son works at Continental Cement.”
Whaley thought, “This is something minor that we could definitely take care of for them.”
The scanner that the historical society picked out “was a very simple one,” Whaley said. “Continental Cement will take care of you,” she told the society.
“Continental Cement has a long and interesting history in Ralls County, and we want to keep those stories alive.”
Ron Leake, president of the RCHS, said that the organization is built upon donations. He is using the scanner to digitize documents and photos, so that they can be shared on the internet.
“We have a lot of pictures,” he said.
History has been his life-long passion. “I put all these years into gathering all this information,” he said. A big disappointment would be to do all that work, and have nothing to show for it.
Top topics of interest in Ralls County are the train depot at Center, the Short Line Railroad, Fort Mason, from the War of 1812, and the renovated Carousel at Perry.
“A lot of younger people don’t realize what we’re doing,” he said.
“I want to get this information on the internet and share it with the public,” he said.
