PORTAGE | Back in the corner of the Portage Community Historical Society's museum is a room within a room.

No bigger than a storage closet, the fireproof room contains remnants of the past -- clothing from the Victorian era, military uniforms from each branch of the service and high school commencement programs dating back to 1896.

A potpourri of memorabilia, Renee Sloane hopes that someday it will become an accessible record of yesterday.

The museum is one step closer to its goal thanks to longtime resident Norma Slanger who left the historical society a bequeathal in her will that will allow Sloane and other local historians to preserve, catalog and organize the collection.

In return, the society is holding a dedication ceremony Saturday at 11 a.m. to name the room the Walter and Norma Slanger Memorial Archive Room. It also will dedicate a flowering purple plum tree in the Slangers' memory. Walter Slanger's nephew Robert, of Texas, and Norma Slanger's sister Maxine Philips, of Valparaiso, will be in attendance.

"This is going to be important," Historical Society President Lois Mollick said, adding it will enable the group to restore items for future generations.

Sloane, who worked as an intern at the museum last summer and stayed on as a volunteer, said it could take five years to get all the materials in order. There are photographs that must be dated and organized. Some were simply dropped off at the museum's doors with no information. There are papers to be looked through and home movies to be watched.

"It is all about preservation and for research," she said, adding that the money will allow the historical society to organize the materials and develop a catalog for easy access.

"We have great stuff here. People really love the area. They kept a lot of great stuff," said Sloane, who has also helped reorganize the museum's displays and artifacts.