Search Newsroom

Friends of Will Rogers will soon be taking on a new meaning. A docent
volunteer program is being developed to have trained docents in place in
time to help with the 2008 Will Rogers Days and 70th anniversary celebration
of the opening of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum.

Susan Rollins, certified docent at Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and a Friend of
Will Rogers, is developing a training program for volunteers at the
Claremore Memorial and Will Rogers Ranch, according to Steve Gragert,
Museums director. Docents are trained volunteers who staff museums.

''We are very excited and eager to launch our new volunteer program. It will
offer friends of the Will Rogers Memorial Museums meaningful and diverse
opportunities to contribute their expertise and time. We feel blessed that
Susan has volunteered to develop and coordinate the program. She brings to
it bountiful experience, a passion for museums and a love of Will Rogers.''

Volunteer ''Ropers'' activities can include helping in the Memorial gift
shop, greeting visitors, assisting with tours and special events as well as
other activities and projects.

Persons interested in volunteering in the docent program can submit a letter
of interest, providing contact information and brief background. People of
all ages, men and women, will be needed seven days a week. Letters of
interest can be mailed to Susan Rollins, P.O. Box 157, Claremore, OK 74019
or left in the Will Rogers Memorial Museum store. The store is open 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. daily.

''This will be a very fun project.'' Rollins said, ''and a fun way to
incorporate area Will Rogers admirers in activities of the Memorial.''

Docents will be required to complete a training program to familiarize them
with the Will Rogers persona as well as the Memorial and Birthplace and all
aspects of Museums functions.

Docents will need to be familiar with Will Rogers' writings and to act as a
resource on his various methods of communications to assist in the Museums'
mission to collect, preserve and share the life, wisdom and humor of Will
Rogers for all generations.

Rollins said the goal is to have at least 10 docents in place in time for
Will Rogers Days Nov. 1-4.

Although it has been many years since a docent program has been involved in
the Claremore and Oologah museums, docents have an extensive role in the
Will Rogers Park Ranch in Santa Monica, Calif.

Rollins has conducted more than 20 tours at Gilcrease including the special
Charles Bank Wilson exhibit. She participates in the Computer Discover
Center (known as Kravis Discovery Center) at Gilcrease where she is
responsible during her shifts, to inform the attending public about the
artifacts that are stored and on display at the Discovery Center.

Before her docent activities at Gilcrease, she spent more than 30 years in
the personnel business as a recruiter and owner of an employment agency. She
has a bachelor's degree from Lesley College of Cambridge, Mass.

Rollins knows about Will Rogers. Her husband, Peter, a retired Oklahoma
State University professor, was involved in the OSU Will Rogers Project,
compiling 22 volumes of writings of Will Roger. He produced a 1976 history
film, ''Will Rogers' 1920s: A Cowboy's Guide to the Times.''