Jerry West honored for vision in Museum of Western York County

Jerry West asked the Sharon Town Council for a room at the Sharon Community Center for a Western York County museum. A month later, West was back asking for more space.

The Museum of Western York County in Sharon now includes more than 5,000 square feet of exhibits that tell the story of early life in the region. It includes furniture, farm implements, documents, household items and more, including a covered wagon.

Local dignitaries came together in a surprise celebration Oct. 18 to honor West, 76, for his leadership role in launching the museum, which opened in June 2003, and guiding its growth.

“It has flourished under your leadership, guidance and hard work,” said Sharon Mayor Beverly Blair, who presented a proclamation honoring West from the Sharon Town Council. “It will be something the people will for generations to come be able to enjoy.”

West was also honored for his “initiative and outstanding civil service” with a proclamation from the state of South Carolina, presented by state Rep. Dennis Moss, R-Gaffney.

“I’m flabbergasted,” West told about 50 people who gathered at the community center to surprise him.

He added: “It has been a wonderful work and time we’ve spent here developing this thing. It surprised us all.”

Paul Boger, chairman of the council that oversees the museum, said West had some health issues and nearly died earlier this year. Boger said the council realized what West has meant to the museum and wanted to thank him.

Boger said many people contributed to the museum, but West was a guiding force. “He really carried the ball.”

Boger said West, a former minister who lives in the Bullocks Creek area, began thinking about such a museum about a decade before it became a reality. He worked with members of the Broad River Basin Historical Society to make the idea happen.

“It became a labor of love for Jerry,” Boger said. “It’s kind of like raising a child, it’s not always fun and games. But as with raising a child, trying times only push the parent to greater efforts, and the same was true with Jerry.”

Boger and West said that after West made the initial request for one room of exhibit space, exhibit items poured in from the community and more space was needed.

West, who has served as a volunteer director and curator for the past 12 years, said people approached the museum with items of historical significance that they wanted to donate. “That went on over and over again. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Among those who attended the event Oct. 18 was C. Brook Hudson of Sharon, who donated money to set up the first foundation for the museum. West said the first wing, Hudson Gallery, was named to honor Brook and his wife, Sue.

West said he once wondered what would happen to the museum without his guidance. However, he said Andrew Sherer, a member of the museum council, has agreed to serve as an associate director under West.

Sherer, a technician at Metrolina Greenhouses who lives near Sharon, said he volunteered to help West with projects during the years and was asked to join the council last year. His family has lived in the area since the 1760s, he said.

Sherer said he thinks it’s important that the museum continues. The project, he said, “has been done with the love and the passion of the people in this area.”

Blair said the museum has been important to the Sharon community. “It’s a way to remember a way of life that so many people have forgotten about,” she said. “I could not imagine the hours of work he has put into it.”

His wife, Dianne West, said her husband was born in Virginia and his family later moved to Baltimore, then Sharon, where he grew up. “He wanted to preserve the history, so everybody could know what went on here,” she said.

West, who thanked the community, said he has had a “grand time” working for the museum. “We now have some of the most important things from this side of the county,” West said. “And what price can you put on that?”

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Jerry West honored for vision in Museum of Western York County."