NEW DEVICE EXPANDS VACAVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S CAPABILITIES
Deep in a niche of the old Vacaville jail on Main Street, the past, present and future collide.
And that’s a great thing, advised members of the Vacaville Heritage Council Tuesday morning.
With the help of Solano County Supervisor John Vasquez, the council now has a large book scanner — a technological marvel that makes archiving and copying a snap.
Even more amazing is that the device came in myriad pieces that took almost 80 hours for council volunteers and board members Doug Rodgers and Brian Irwin to put together.
“It was like boxes full of Tinker Toys,” Rodgers emphasized.
To explain: Vasquez has long been a history buff and Vacaville Heritage Council supporter. One day, he and Rodgers were talking about needs and the subject of the very cool scanner with twin cameras came up.
“Every year I get $5,000 to give out in grants,” the supervisor said.
Rodgers proposed the purchase and received $1,500. He later received $1,000 more.
“I remember when Bob Allen would take photos of photos to make negatives,” said Vasquez of the late photographer, who handled the council’s images.
Knowing the importance of the council to the community, he had no problem lending a hand.
The initial funding bought the scanner kit. Putting it together themselves saved tons of money, Rodgers said, but had the men frustrated and cursing.
“It came in three boxes,” he recalled. “There were no instructions. That would’ve been the fourth box.”
A search online turned up a wealth of help and eventually the scanner, which resembles a mini A-frame bearing twin cameras, was ready to go.
The second round of funding, meanwhile, will go towards replacing a 14-year-old server and last for several years.
The new scanner is amazing,
Rodgers and Irwin affirmed. It can handle large pieces, produce crisp images thanks to upgraded cameras and copy a whole yearbook in 30-40 minutes.
“It’s much faster, a lot better quality,” Rodgers pointed out.
The old system was time consuming, required more handson work.
“Before, we used a flatbed scanner,” Irwin said, of the cumbersome device.
The new scanner pulls everything together in a PDF format.
It’s a big deal, Irwin said, because it expands the organization’s ability to preserve local history and provides yet an
other resource for the community.
The scanner arrived just before the county’s shelter-in-place order went into effect due to COVID-19. The closure allowed the men time to put the device together, test it, and get some work done.
Next up will be lots of scanning, launching a new and improved website and getting together memorabilia and more for an upcoming showing at the Vacaville Museum of local historians both past and present.
The Vacaville Heritage Council is located at 618 East Main Street. Though it’s currently closed due to the pandemic, help is still available online. Visit www.vacavilleheritagecouncil.org.