Cheney Museum has many stories to tell

The Cheney Historical Museum's website's "Welcome" message speaks to it having "the best qualities of small-town America; a friendly, informal place where you are encouraged to look, linger, have a conversation, ask questions."

Even the briefest conversation with museum director Joan Mamanakis will confirm that and should probably whet one's appetite to learn more about local history.

The museum celebrates a milestone 80th birthday in 2015, having opened in 1935. Turn back the clock to that year and one could buy a new car for $625, but America was still locked in the Great Depression so that...