Two of the organizers of that event are also board members of the Victor Historical Society, which owns the museum. Such an arrangement — board members having business agreements with the organization they serve — has increasingly been used by the historical society to provide programs. But that creates potential conflicts of interest, according to experts on nonprofit organizations.

Valentown's recent history illustrates the difficulties facing small museums that lack a paid staff and have historic buildings with high costs — challenges now magnified by the troubled economy.

"It makes it much harder for smaller institutions in a difficult economic environment," said Ford Bell, president of the American Association of Museums.

Attendance tends to rise in successful museums during tough economic times because more people are looking for "staycations"— attractions close to home — but private donations and government grants typically drop.

A formula for success, said Bell, is to connect museums to the communities they serve so that these cultural institutions are considered as important as libraries or schools.

Valentown Hall opened in 1881 to great fanfare, but the railroad that Valentine counted on to bring in customers didn't extend to the area.




By 1920, the building became a storehouse for a farmer who in 1940 planned to tear it down. The late J. Sheldon Fisher, a local historian, stepped in and bought the building for $400.

Fisher, whose parents met at a Valentown Hall dance in 1905, converted the hall into a museum, which he packed with artifacts, papers of historical importance and books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Fisher's legacy can be found in the small shops and display areas on the first two floors of the museum, showcasing everything from high-button shoes and molds for hats to bottles of patented medicines and such household items as a wheel for cutting cheese.

"The collection of the society goes far beyond the boundaries of the town and even the county. It's a regional attraction of wide importance," said David Palmquist, head of museum chartering for the state Education Department.

The historical society, which has about 140 members, continues to show a deficit. Interest owed on the loan continues to account for a large part of the annual deficit — about $26,000 of the almost $39,000 shortfall in 2007.

With a limited number of volunteers and no heat, Valentown is open only on Thursdays and Saturdays from the end of May through September. Paid admissions totaled about 500 people in 2007, but only about 275 last year.

Some renovations have been done — from rebuilding the porch to upgrading three bathrooms. But an estimated $600,000 is needed to fix up the building so it could be open year-round.

In 2007, Carol Finch, then board president, and Schmidt were each paid $10,000 to manage such projects as the renovations and do some of this work themselves.

But outside of Spooktacular, the museum has few activities that generate revenue, and the money-makers that do exist typically involve board members who run programs on a profit-sharing basis with the historical society.

Finch has a Ghost Hunts business at the museum, separate from Spooktacular, which had $7,647 in revenue in 2008. After expenses, Finch received $4,719 and the society got $2,327.

Since last year, Houser has held tea parties at the Ichabod Town Homestead on the museum grounds. In 2008, the tea parties generated $6,107 in revenue, with Houser receiving $4,413 and $1,159 going to the historical society after expenses.

Meanwhile, events such as Peddlers Heritage Days and a Civil War Re-enactment are no long held at Valentown because they lost money.






Spooktacular, which started in 2002, turns the museum into a haunted house for weekend tours from the end of September through Halloween. Not only has the event exhausted board members but it also has drawn criticism for detracting from the museum's mission.

"I didn't like the direction the board was going. I am more into the historical," said Victor resident Sue Stehling, who resigned as a board member in 2006.

Prior to 2008 all Spooktacular profits went to the historical society, which in 2007 totaled $18,665. But in the summer of 2008, Schmidt said, it was determined that the workload was too great for the board to take on.

Schmidt, Finch and her two adult daughters, Jamie Varney and Jo-el Hibbard, struck a deal with the board. Schmidt said that Palmquist was told about the arrangement.

Under the board's agreement with the four organizers, the historical society got a guaranteed $5,000 — but no more. More than $24,000 went for expenses ranging from advertising to costumes and supplies. That left the four organizers with $24,271 to share for their work, according to the preliminary breakdown of the financing.