Bob, Ben and Jeff have all mentioned Joe Ruzcykij in their comments within this thread. As I was washing the siding on my house this afternoon, I thought of Joe and the impact he had on the museum's development.
While Harry Percival brought family, friends, neighbors and even co-workers at his place of employment into the project, Joe took things to a much broader level.
Joe treated each person to his stories of the railroad and to the goals the group envisioned. He took a hands on approach to cultivating those relationships and brought in many narrow gage modelers into the membership. Gary Kohler gave early support to the Sheepscot Valley Railroaders through the pages of his
Maine Two Foot Modeler Magazine. Folks from all over began to call and write for information. I was one of them and pestered Joe to no end with questions and comments.
Often Joe would rearrange his contracting jobs to allow him to be at Sheepscot to meet with someone, open for a tour or even head off on a project, such as digging for old spikes up by the remains of the Head Tide tank.
Members would often be invited to sleep, shower and have a bean at the Ruzcykij home on the weekends. Railroad stories ran late into those evenings!
So many talented people came together to get the job of building the railroad underway. Zack, Jason and Harry always visible in those early days, Joe backing it up with constant support and encouragement and financial donations. The museum's history now long at over 30 years, Joe's time by comparison, relatively short. Not forgotten by me for his important talents and many contributions.
