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PRESIDENT’S REPORT AND RHS BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATES


From right to left. Carrie is joined in her volunteer role on the RHS Board of Directors by the following volunteers: Vice President, Bill Gaw; Treasurer, Steve Bergquist; Secretary, Jacob Winter; Director, Kai Dalton, Director, Alice Lockridge; and Director, James Wilhoit.


Carrie Bergquist was elected President of the Board of Directors at the Renton Historical Society’s (RHS) annual membership meeting in June of 2025, returning to a position she previously held between 1989 and 1991. This update includes general RHS news, Carrie’s hopes for the Society’s future, an introduction to the new Board, and an acknowledgement of the previous board’s hard work toward RHS’s goals.


When Carrie joined the Board in the 1980s, she recalls, the society had been initially operating on a small budget as a potluck-style organization. In 1979, with the help of Ernie Tonda, they began utilizing Historic Fire Station #1 after the fire department moved to their new station next door. In an interview with then-interim Executive Director, Dr Elizabeth Flanagan, Carrie provided a brief history of how RHS transitioned from their potluck-style organization to its current status.


Ernie Tonda, Carrie noted, played a key role in the early days of RHS: “Ernie’s abilities to talk to the City, to make the building happen, and get the community to back us,” says Carrie, “is what started our strong partnership with the City of Renton.” Much of the early donations and accessions were mainly thanks to his efforts.


Carrie also mentioned the creation of an endowment program, an idea initiated by Steve Anderson, Museum Director, in 1997, which she chaired. Initially, some members of the board were hesitant to move forward with this endowment program, but they agreed to allow an internal Endowment Committee to manage $65,000 of the $100,000 in their savings.

We continued with Ken Becker, Naomi Mathieson, and Randy Rockhill on the committee.


In 2001, RHS received a large donation from the Charlie Custer Estate. The funds were transferred to the Renton Community Foundation. In 2004, RHS transferred the account to our current financial advisor, Shane Klingenstein at Edward Jones. Thanks to this effort and the work of the Endowment Committees that followed, RHS is self-sustaining. They operate on a $200,000+ annual budget, allowing for the employment of staff members, programming for society members, archival work of RHS artifacts and documents, and more.

Additionally, the endowment includes an account set aside as a building fund, which the board hopes to combine with other future donations and savings to expand Renton Historical’s footprint in the Renton community. We are always excited to talk with members about our shared goals for the future prospects of RHS!


Fast forward to today and Carrie still brings with her a passion, not only for preserving and promoting Renton history, but for expanding RHS’ offerings of genealogy services to RHS members and the Renton community at large. She emphasized “the value for young people to understand that they come from generations of others” and how the RHS’s offering of genealogy services can help attract the interest of youth in the Renton community. In providing members with exclusive access to RHS genealogy software and continual updates regarding publiclyavailable resources, Carrie and the RHS want to help YOU piece together your family’s history!


The Renton Historical Society would like to thank the immediate past Board of Directors for their dedicated service to the furthering of the goals and plans of the RHS:


Thank you, President Christopher Howell, Vice President Carrie Bergquist, Treasurer Makenna O’Meara, Secretary Courtney Warren, Director Tony Howell, Director Leigh Gath, Director Elizabeth Flanagan, and Director Kai Dalton!


Would you like to view a PDF of the full, print newsletter? Please click on the Download image to the right, below.


 
 
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