Moyer even connects the tragedies of her life. She recalled two tornadoes in the county’s history: One in 1954 destroyed her family’s home.

“There were these metal dollhouses coming out, so my dollhouse that got caught in the tornado was a metal one,” she said. “Yeah, and before that they were wooden.”

An earlier tornado in 1881 destroyed the Presbyterian Church.

“The next morning, the flag was still on the wall, the flowers were in the vases, but the building was gone and the bell was lying in the dirt,” Moyer said, pointing to a wall where a tattered flag hung.

Moyer works with three other volunteers for the Madison County Historical Society. She was involved in recruiting the two newest volunteers for those roles, one of whom was Nathan Ambrose, the current vice president.

Ambrose originally helped the society with a project, but plans changed because of Moyer. She persuaded him to join the historical society’s board of directors. Ambrose said while he might not have joined the society without Moyer, he sees the value of the history the museum preserves.

“I believe that we must preserve our history. It has always been this way, even if it was not a good subject for me at school. But it is very important because it would be a shame to lose all these memories,” he said.

Ambrose said he doesn’t make it to the museum often, but when he does, his favorite exhibit changes.

“Usually it’s what Marilyn tells me,” he said, laughing. “And there are a few that are kind of floating around.”