The Harrison County Historical Museum received a well-deserved blessing on Thursday as Innovative Office Systems of Shreveport donated a new copier to help the nonprofit in its mission to preserve county records.
“It’s obviously a great benefit to the work that the museum does, recording and presenting the history of our county,” said Michael Smith, local attorney and new chairman of the museum’s board of trustees.
“We couldn’t do this without tremendous contributions, like this, from business partners in the region,” Smith said.
Tim Harms, owner/CEO of the copier company, said this is the second copier the company has donated to the museum in support of the museum’s efforts.
“Years ago we realized how important the building, the region and the treasures of the region were,” Harms said.
He said Innovative Office Systems became familiar with the museum through their business relationship with Pct. 1 County Commissioner William Hatfield, former owner of Copy-Rite in downtown Marshall.
“We worked with Mr. Hatfield for years,” Harms said. “He had taken care of a copier that had been here a long time and had become so old that it could no longer be repaired. And so we inquired, we went ahead and we came to see what could be used and what the needs of the historical museum were. We found something and felt it was a good community effort and something that made sense for us to contribute in the area.
He said that because this particular unit is now obsolete, the company decided to offer the museum the new replacement that was delivered on Thursday.
“They used it well for a number of years to support their efforts,” Harms said of the first donated machine. “It got to the same point where the parts weren’t made for it anymore. And so every time we saw this in our records, I was like, we have to continue this mission. And so we’ve been working on that for the last few months, making sure that we could find another unit that would do the job right, and then go ahead and make sure that we can get it here, swap those units out, and let they continue to do what they needed without ever having an additional (cost).
“Again, we’re happy to be able to contribute so they can continue what needs to be done here,” Harms said.
The units were turned off Thursday. The museum’s executive director, Becky Palmer, was delighted to accept the donation on behalf of the museum, as copiers of this quality are quite astronomical, fetching at least $12,000.
“It’s a big giveaway for us because a copier is quite expensive and we now have three sites, two of which require copiers,” Palmer said. “Small non-profit organizations like the Historical Museum, we are always grateful when people are willing to help us accomplish our mission of educating the historic Harrison County area and how our area affects the entire state of Texas.
“So having that makes everything easier in the office and at the research center and we really appreciate that gift,” Palmer said, noting that the copier will be used in the main office, which is the perfect cozy space for the machine.
Palmer said she appreciates the Shreveport Society for supporting the museum’s efforts.
“Innovative is out of Shreveport, but they serve our area. They always really took care of us,” she said. “William Hatfield, county commissioner here, who was on our board until (his tenure on the museum board expired) September 1, he was the one who organized the first copier donation and who put us in touch with this company and the relationship. just continued. They’re just really great guys. They’ll take care of your copying needs.
