Big-game trophies to go in new museum

WILLOW -- After the Willow Area Community Center's big-game trophy auction was canceled this summer, the trophy mounts were hauled back to Willow from Mountain View Sports Center in Anchorage and tucked away in the attic.

The world-class trophies are now hidden from view and collecting dust in the community center. But WACO chairman Jim Huston wants to change that.

Brett McDonald, a Willow hunter and taxidermist who died in January 2004, left the mounts to WACO in his will.

Huston wants the mounts to be on prominent display when WACO opens the Willow museum next year.

"They should be on display where people can see them and appreciate them," Huston said. "It was a remarkable gift and it's just a shame for them to be sitting up there out of view."

Huston is in the process of applying for grants to renovate the old WACO building and turn it into a museum. To qualify for the grants, the building must change its status to nonprofit. Huston wants to use the old log building as the foundation for a nonprofit organization, the centerpiece of which will be the Willow museum.

That's where the game mounts come in. While artifacts are being collected and cataloged, the game mounts will be prominently featured when the museum opens.

"The game mounts are a blessing because they're sizable and interesting," Huston said. "They'll make great displays."

WACO had kicked around the idea of a museum for years, with little progress, but the donation of the mounts breathed new life into the effort. When the auction was canceled amid controversy over its legality, Huston saw an opportunity to move forward the museum project.

"When I talked to the community [about the auction], I said that we got screwed but we didn't," Huston said. "It'll take time, but good will come of it. We really do appreciate the generosity of Brett and his mother."

Last weekend WACO elected a museum board of four people, including Huston, to manage the refurbishment of the building and collect artifacts.

The building itself was built by homesteaders in the 1960s, when the only road to Willow was through Hatcher Pass. Residents cut the logs and milled them at the building's current site. Willow in the 1960s was about as wild as Palmer was in the '30s; there were very few jobs and most people farmed and lived off the land, Huston said.

Now the old log building needs major renovations. Huston has completed a $100,000 grant application for the building, which will include a new foundation and a complete overhaul of the interior.

Huston hopes the museum will attract summer tourists. The site is an ideal stopping place for RVs and tour buses, Huston said, and WACO could use the revenue.

"This community is awesome, there's a lot of involvement and support," Huston said. "But we have to hustle to pay the bills. The museum is a way to share the community with visitors, and it would be an ideal place for folks to stop on their way to Denali."

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.