MERRILLVILLE | Step back in time with Bruce Woods, director of the Lake County Historical Museum, who will narrate a slide show Saturday at the Lake County Public Library featuring artifacts that stand as a reminder of earlier ways of life in Lake County.

Come and learn more about ancestors' farm implements, household items, clothing, and musical instruments at 1 p.m. Saturday. There is even a full-size replica of the canoe used by French explorer LaSalle to explore Northwest Indiana. Be sure to stop and view the items on display in the Periodicals Department.

Call (219) 769-3541, ext. 334 to register for this interesting program. Refreshments will be served.

Woods is also the newest member of the Lake County Public Library Board. No stranger to the library, Woods utilized it extensively as a teacher and is especially interested in promoting the library's genealogy resources.

A volunteer par excellence, Woods is president of the Lake county Historical Society as well as director of the Lake County Historical Museum housed in the Old Courthouse in downtown Crown Point.

The museum showcases a variety of memorabilia from Lake County's rich past.

Woods takes pride in volunteering and making a difference in his community. "Volunteerism runs the country," he said in a written news release.

Woods also serves on the board of Lake County Courthouse Foundation, Old Homestead Preservation Society, Association of Indiana Museums and Lake Michigan Coastal Advisory, and participates in the Historic Communities of Northwest Indiana. He also serves on the Covered Bridge and The Times editorial boards. He received the Hubert Hawkins Award for local history in 2003.

His contributions as a volunteer were recognized and rewarded by the Legacy Foundation with their Volunteer of the Year award in 2000.

Before retiring, Woods taught in the Merrillville Community School Corporation for 29 years. He is now serving the education community as a member of the Merrillville Education Foundation's board and as a teacher at the Merrillville Adult Education Center.

- The Times