By Lois Westermeyer
Pontiac Daily Leader

Pontiac, Ill. — Stories of local veterans and some relics of their military service  will come to life through a collaborative effort between Pontiac Township High School students and the Livingston County War Museum.

Students in Eric Sweetwood’s Illinois Studies classes visited the War Museum and Dal Estes Education Center last week to pick out the initial subjects of an cell phone audio tour the museum plans to implement early next year.

“Students will pick out veterans and some of the items here to research for reports. Those reports will then be pared down to 60- or 90-second audio messages.  We signed up for a trial with OnCell Systems that will provide the technology to create these audio tours. The items that have audio histories will be clearly marked at the museum. Visitors will use their own cell phones to dial a local number and then a code that corresponds with a veteran or exhibit they wish to hear more about,” said David Estes, education director for the museum.

“We’re very excited about this project. It will provide our visitors with some of the most interesting stories from our historic artifacts. We know it will use visitors’ cell phone minutes, but they get to pick and chose which, if any, they want to listen to while here. And it’s a great way to get the students involved in the museum and this county’s history with military service,” Estes said.

“We put the students in groups and we’re hoping they choose projects representative of each era, World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq,” Sweetwood said. He told the enthusiastic students on the day of the initial visit to the museum, “Be thoughtful about these projects because you will be giving back to your community.
“David and I talked about doing something like this for some time. Illinois Studies is a unique class at the high school. The students are mostly freshmen and sophomores, but there are a number of upperclassmen who are acting as group leaders for this project.”

Sweetwood said his students are intelligent and energetic and have a positive outlook that will service this project well.

“What was really neat is that in the earlier group that came to the museum, one of the girls, Katie Dixon, was reading about the Tammen  brothers of Flanagan and she burst out, ‘One of them is my great-grandfather. ‘ I mean that was something. So naturally, her group is doing their story.”

“We’re only doing a small number of ‘cell stops’ to begin with, but this is a project that we can continue years to come. We can build on this project every year, and expound on it so that younger kids look forward to working on this project,” Sweetwood said.

Estes said the trial period is from November through February with one-year contracts available.

“We looked at other audio ideas, but those were a big expense. This is still a big expense, but not at that level. We are only able to do this through a very generous grant from the Humiston-Byrne Trust of Pontiac,” Estes said. “If the tour proves popular, we can do almost as many stops as we want. “

Estes said the project is in its infancy and that he learned of similar museum tours when he attended the Illinois Association of Museums Conference held at the Palmer House in Chicago.

“It got a very favorable response and I think it will add to the museum here,” Estes said. “But I want to reiterate that this tour will never replace the volunteers and veterans who donate their time here. But they cannot be here all the time and this tour will also highlight those no longer with us.”

“This is a real treasure for students,” Sweetwood continued.  “This is tangible history they are studying. It lets them pay homage to those who served, while really serving the community. It’s a natural fit for these classes and the kids are loving it,” he said. “When you give them ownership of a project they really do better, the quality will show. Plus, it gives a nod to our past, knowing where we came from.”

“I think the project is pretty cool,” agreed student Brittany Mennenga. “Knowing it will stay here a long time — even after we leave school.”

Sweetwood also pointed students in the director of the museum’s chief researcher Ralph Messer, who was present to answer any questions or help with research ideas.

“He’s been to the classes a couple of times, talking to the students about possible projects, what may work to catch the audience’s attention,” Sweetwood said.

Some student groups were looking at the vast array of weaponry,  including a knife from Adolph Hitler’s youth.

“There are a lot of items that would interest people. And not just the weapons, but seeing the uniforms and all the medals,” said student Maddie Dohleman.

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