Featured Friend - Volunteer Profile

When Mary Kay Stone retired from a career in professional theater props management and returned to her hometown of Oswego, NY, it wasn’t long before her love of history and theater drew her to Fort Ontario State Historic Site.

At the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Mary Kay Stone supervised a large staff that built and upholstered furniture, bought or made set dressing, and created hand props. The summer of 2014, after moving back to Oswego, the Fort and the H. Lee White Maritime Museum were co-producing a children’s play based on a historic event in the War of 1812. Mary Kay ended up as production manager and head of a sewing group that were building uniforms for the British Royal Navy invaders in the play.

That sewing group continues to this day, but now the group creates Civil War era shirts and haversacks, curtains and other items for the Fort staff and displays. Mary Kay also volunteered in the Museum Shop and soon was asked to join the Board of the Friends of Fort Ontario.

Fort Ontario is unique in American history. It is the only army post that had a role in every US conflict from the French and Indian War to the War on Terrorism. Though it is a State Park and Historic Site, the grounds still have an Army Reserve Center for the 444th Engineer Company. The site recognizes and honors the service of veterans from 1755 to the present day.

“It was also the only Emergency Refugee Shelter in the US for mostly Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust during World War II,” adds Mary Kay, “and we discover that few people have ever heard of that. There are so many compelling stories to tell here; ones that resonate with issues still relevant today.”

The Friends have a huge role in providing reproduction furnishings for new exhibits as well as finding and buying authentic artifacts from Fort’s history, many of which are in a new exhibit.

In the last year, Mary Kay has taken on the critical role of learning how to write grants. The Friends’ normal income from the Museum Shop and events has been doubled by grant awards and this has allowed the group to plan specific projects previously unaffordable. The Friends were able to partner with the state’s Historic Preservation Office in funding a new interactive exhibit describing the Fort’s 261-year history with more artifacts, new videos and eight iPad stations loaded with information. New interpretive panels will soon line the walking trails around the Fort to show historic features no longer standing.

The Friends are also laying the groundwork for the future with a grant from Parks & Trails New York through the Park and Trail Partnership Program, which will give the group a new website with the ability to accept membership applications, event registrations and donations online. It also will give the Friends internet access at the Fort and give the public free Wi-Fi within the grounds. With the technological advances afforded by these recent grants, the Friends are hoping to move into the 21st century by telling the Fort’s story through a larger online presence, historical tour apps, and increased social media advertising.

When asked what she finds most rewarding about volunteering, in addition to the great group of staff and volunteers at the Fort, Mary Kay says, “There is a moment, at the start of a day, when I walk through the stone tunnel into the fort which opens up to a sun-drenched parade ground surrounded by stone buildings that have stood for over 150 years, when I feel like I am transported to another time! I often say to whoever will listen to me, ‘Isn’t it a gorgeous day to do history at Fort Ontario!’ It is an awesome feeling to be both an insider with access to the ‘backstage’ workings of this site and an integral part of showing off this national treasure. Teaching history through historical re-creation and presentation is a little like theater, isn’t it?”

Mary Kay recalls, “When I retired to my hometown of Oswego, NY, I wanted to volunteer at every historical organization in town!” Although the Fort has been her primary focus, she also volunteers with the Oswego County Historical Society at the Richardson Bates House, a gorgeous furnished mansion “frozen in time” from the 1870’s, and is associated with the H. Lee White Maritime Museum at Oswego and the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum. She also recently designed and helped create a 4th of July Parade float for the 200th anniversary of Oswego County. As a block leader, she organized her neighborhood to apply for an Oswego Renaissance Association Block Challenge Grant.

When she’s not volunteering (though we’re not sure when that could be!), Mary Kay is whittling down her collection of over 2,000 vintage board games through some eBay selling and garage sales. She also has a part-time job at Man in the Moon Candies, her sister’s store in historic downtown Oswego, and ships her chocolate concoctions all over the world. “(History, theater, chocolate - my world is complete!)”

The Friends and the Fort are lucky to have a volunteer like Mary Kay who is both skilled and passionate. She adds, “Retirement would be lonely and depressing if there wasn’t an avenue to keep busy and feel useful. I found my mission, and a lot of new friends, in supporting Fort Ontario.”



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