Honors in history
Horst, Stover awarded for museum work
For the first time ever, two Porterville residents have been recognized by historians around the state for their efforts to preserve Porterville history, and those who are familiar with those efforts feel the recognition is welldeserved.
At the annual meeting of the Conference of California Historical Societies (CCHS) last weekend, Porterville Historical Museum board members Bill Horst and Dr. Don Stover were among the eleven award recipients honored for preserving and chronicling California’s past.
Horst received an Individual Award for his decades of research into local history, and Stover was recognized with the Preservation Award for his contributions to expanding and improving Porterville Historical Museum’s exhibits.
“These awards are a nice way to honor people who spend so much time in this community preserving history,” said Porterville Historical Museum curator Sheila Pickrell, who nominated Horst and Stover for the awards in March. “So many people don’t know history, and when you have someone talking about it and preserving it it’s fantastic.”
Horst has spent countless hours over the years researching and sharing his knowledge of Porterville’s history with the community, and has acquired a wealth of knowledge about Native American pottery and artifacts, antique firearms and edged weapons, and western memorabilia.
“Bill has been talking about history forever. He started when he was a kid,” said Pickrell. “He would listen to the old people and find their stories and then research them. When I talk to kids I tell them that’s how they should do it.”
Stover has become a key contributor to the museum in recent years, giving hundreds of hours of his time and making significant financial contributions, allowing the museum to upgrade a number of exhibits which has improved its ability to share Porterville history with the community.
“In this day and time there's not a lot of people who will put their money into preserving something,” said Pickrell on Stover's generosity.
Humble and committed to their passion even in a moment of recognition, both Horst and Stover commented only briefly about their thoughts on the award before steering the conversation toward historical points of interest and upcoming museum projects.
“It was kind of a blindside thing,” said Horst on being surprised by the award last weekend. “It was pretty exciting. I just do what I enjoy doing, and that's research and digging.”
“Well, I'm a little bit embarrassed because I haven't been here that long,” said Stover on the award. “So many people like Bill have done so much to set this all up [at the museum] and I'm just lighting this or fixing that. I'm trying to catch up, and I don't think I ever will.”
For Pickrell, the different ways Horst and Stover contribute to preserving and sharing Porterville's legacy are equally important, and both should be equally celebrated.
“These awards don't just have to be about people who make historical contributions,” said Pickrell. “It's about people that are working to preserve something, and we need to honor that.”