A cherished piece of local history has found its home at the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude’s: the official Sunshine Club scrapbook, spanning nearly three decades from 1950 to 1977.
Organized around 1938 with the cheerful motto, "Into each life some sun should fall," the social club was dedicated to community spirit and good humor. Tucked inside the scrapbook’s front cover sits a tongue-in-cheek card reading: "This is a nonprofit organization. We didn’t plan it that way, but that’s the way it turned out."
Despite the lighthearted start, the club’s impact was profound. Year after year, members published detailed rosters tracking meeting attendance and recording the creative ways they brought sunshine to the region. The group assisted with local blood drives, scrubbed down the Cottonwood Hall kitchen, and donated essential equipment to keep the venue running, including a food warming table for $670 in 1978. Early photos capture their vibrant social calendar, including a memorable March 1951 Easter party hosted at the home of Merle Laufer.
The club’s crowning achievement came in 1970 when members took on their biggest project yet: designing and assembling two early 20th-century museum booths at the Idaho County Farm Museum on the fairgrounds. Members taking on this project in 1970 were Ann Forsman, Bess Hanley, Ann Hoene, Verla Jenny, Catherine Konen, Kathryn Kinzer, Nellie Lester, Mary Reed, Margaret Riener, Rose Riener, Clare Sager, Clara Schnider, Magdalene Schnider, Valeria Seubert, Bertha Tacke, Mary Uptmor, Blanche VonBargen and Agnes Wemhoff. Two photos published in the Idaho County Free Press show those early booths.
According to news clippings inside the album, the Cottonwood Lions Club joined the effort by tackling structural plans, building construction and labor. They also helped in artifact collection and fundraising. Together, these organizations preserved a tangible piece of local heritage that museum visitors can still admire today.