By Dannie OLIVEAUX

Kitsap Week

Come, let’s take a walk into the past, to the hustle and bustle of early South Kitsap County.

A ladies millinery store exhibit features hats from the 1930s through the 1960s.The hats were donated by the Newstrom family.

A ferry exhibit gives visitors a window (or porthole?) into life on the waterfront and early travel upon local waters.

A hardward and grocery store exhibit offers a taste of commerce in early South Kitsap County.

Welcome to Port Orchard’s “best kept secret.”

Since 1972, a dedicated group of volunteers has maintained this important place — the Sidney Art Gallery and Museum, and adjacent Log Cabin Museum.

There are many museums, art galleries and art museums in the region. But a combination of art gallery and museum is rare.

But without the volunteers, the Sidney Art Gallery and Museum would not be possible, according to volunteers Chris Stansbery and Pam Heinrich.

With the volunteers’ help, the center of history and knowledge at 202 Sidney Ave. is able to keep regular hours of operation — Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays 1-4 p.m.

In addition, each month the art gallery spotlights local artists.

“Last year, about 6,000 people visited the art gallery and museum,” said Stansbery, board member and treasurer of the Sidney Museum and Arts Association (SMAA).

The building was once home to the city’s 1908 Masonic Temple and was purchased by the SMAA in 1972.

“Everything inside the building is from the original building, except the light fixtures and inside walls,” Stansbery said.

The art gallery was opened in 1972, the museum portion in 1987.

Stansbery said non-paid volunteers have helped to keep the art gallery and museum open during the years — along with an occasional paid part-time manager. Currently, there is no paid part-time manager.

Today, 50 volunteers of various ages help out at the art gallery and museum.

“Sometimes we have more and sometime we have less,” Stansbery said.

“There used to be more Log Cabin Museum volunteers, but many people have gotten older or moved away.”

Volunteers work at the gift shop, answer telephone calls, provide visitors with information about the gallery and museums, and take money for art items sold in the gallery.

Stansbery said the Sidney Museum and the Log Cabin Museum help people see what life was like in Port Orchard’s past, with information and memorabilia that people would otherwise never see. She said the group is working on having two volunteers daily exhibits on the second floor can be more accessible.

“When kids [visit] the Log Cabin Museum and someone explains what that thing on the wall is, they have never seen anything like that before,” she said. “People are fascinated by the antique items such as the old washer and dryer, old hats, etc.”

Since the art gallery aims to feature local artists.

“The idea was to promote local and Northwest artists with a rotating show each month,” Stansbery said.

The oldest volunteer is Toni Nelson, a local artist who is 90, while the youngest is in her late 20s.

“We just had a young girl who is a Navy wife that is volunteering,” said Heinrich, SMAA art director.

But Stansbery said teens have asked to volunteer.

“They have to be age 16 before they can volunteer,” she said.

Stansbery said the volunteer program is open to anyone who is interested in art and history. She said some of the volunteers are interested to both art and history.

“We want people who are excited about being here,” Stansbery said.

Heinrich said the gallery and museum has never had to close because of lack of volunteers.

Most of the volunteers are a mix of South Kitsap natives and newcomers. Heinrich said she became a volunteer 24 years ago.

“After I retired and I was looking for something else to do,” she said. “I came and I was working the third Friday with Toni Nelson. I got partnered up with her and we’ve been working here 24 years.”

(To volunteer, call 360-876-3693.)

The art gallery also conducts an art class each month — usually about 90 minutes long.

Heinrich said many people may not know that there is free admission to the art gallery and museums.

“That has been a big plus for us since we are a non-profit,” Stansbery said. “I think we are the longest-running art gallery that doesn’t charge for wall space for an artist.”

She said the gallery exhibits some “new up-and-coming” artists, along with some established artists.

The gallery gets a percentage of art items they sale for the artists.

“If the artist is a volunteer, they get a larger percentage of the sale,” Stansbery said. “Some art galleries take 50 percent of the sale.”

The SMAA began in January 1971 when a group of 20 women came together to form the non-profit group, according to Chris Stansbery, SMAA board member and treasurer.

“It was a lot of the older families who came together to develop the association and the ideal to preserve South Kitsap history, and to educate and promote South Kitsap art,” she said. “It started by saving the old Sidney Hotel.”

In June 1971, the SMAA opened the Sidney Galleries — Port Orchard’s first art gallery — in the Ross Building. Several months later, the group purchased the city’s condemned landmark log cabin. It was restored and used as a mini-museum and is now home to the Log Cabin Museum at 416 Sidney Ave.

Stansbery said the old Sidney Hotel was originally located by the courthouse. In 1975, the SMAA purchased the hotel, but sold it in 1980. It was destroyed by fire in July 1985.

“It was in sad repair and the association worked with the owner to get it on the National Historic Registry,” Stansbery said.

“The association purchased it and it was going to become the art gallery and museum.”