Meet The New Leader Of Benton County’s Historical Treasure

SAUK RAPIDS (WJON News) -- The Benton County Historical Society and Museum has hired a new executive director. Lacey Fontaine was recently hired to take over the role that was held by Mary Ostby for decades. Ostby died unexpectedly in July.

Fontaine says she has big shoes to fill, and it will take her a while to settle into the role.

It's going to be big shoes to fill, and I'm excited to get started on it.  Thankfully, we have a great staff of volunteers who have been here showing me where to find things and telling me things about Benton County.

Fontaine has a bachelor's degree in history from St. Cloud State University. She also has a master's degree in public history. She worked at the Charles Lindbergh House and Museum in Little Falls as a Programs Curator before the Minnesota Historical Society closed that museum.

She is one of two paid staff members. She says dedicated volunteers help keep the facility running.

We have a wonderful man named Fred who does our research for us.  He's very passionate about Benton County history.  Any research requests, he knows where to find it and where to go.  Wendy has been here a really long time and just knows the ins and outs of everything.

Fontaine says the second of three phases of construction on their new museum is expected to start soon, which will be the remodel of the upstairs level.

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She says she wants to get a lot more community involvement in the museum. They have a writing series going on right now where attendees are writing historical fiction about real people who lived in Benton County. Starting in October, they are expanding the museum's hours to Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.