“As a young girl, growing up in Issaquah, there were always tall tales about alcohol stills, hidden up in the hillsides of Frogtown. How many of you know where Frogtown was?” Robin Kelley said. The history of Issaquah was all around her, its very building blocks, the wood, and the photos and artifacts of its life.

Kelley was at the Issaquah Depot, train station turned museum, and she was speaking in front of the people whose labor and generosity make possible the re-telling of the stories that make up Issaquah’s history — the volunteers who man the museum and lobby for its continued operation, at the annual Issaquah History Museums Volunteer Appreciation Night on Thursday night last week.

Kelley went on to tell us that Frogtown was the area of Front Street which now lies just north of Interstate 90, and that Issaquah once had four names, and that at one time there was as many taverns in the township as churches.

As far as Issaquah educations go, the evening was one of great illumination, to learn not only more about the city’s past but to also meet the people who are responsible for its preservation.

One of those, Eric Martin, was honored for contributing more than 200 hours of his own time to the museum in 2008.

He was named the museums’ Volunteer of the Year, in a year when many in the community distinguished themselves for their generosity in helping to maintain and run the Issaquah Depot and the museum at the Old Gilman Hall.

Volunteers Tim Timidaiski, Ron Carlson, Shlomit Weil-Piechenick, and Barb Justice were also recognised as Star Volunteers.

Special presentations were made to Monita Horn and Jean Cerar for contributing more than 1,000 hours between 2005 and 2008.

“Aesop said, no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,” Kelley said. “Your act of kindness is volunteering. You meet and greet citizens and visitors to our community, and you share that kindness, and enthusiasm. In Issaquah, you create an atmosphere where it isn’t just ‘old stuff’ but it is treasured history. As that history, is treasured, you are treasured.”

Earlier in the evening Museums director Erica Maniez said researchers had found that one hour of volunteer labor is worth $20.25 to the organization, meaning that in the past year, volunteers had contributed to the museum about $60,000 worth of labor and expertise.

A special presentation was made on the night to a select group of residents who had contributed the stories of their lives to the museums’ Oral History Project.