A Montesano man has been honored with the Chehalis Valley Historical Society and Museum Preservation Award for his years of work with historic documents and photographs in the Patricia Clemons Museum in Montesano.

“For more than two years, Mike Crites, a 1964 graduate of Montesano High School, has been combing through the holdings of the Chehalis Valley Historical Society Patricia Clemons Museum in Montesano in an effort to locate, digitally preserve and organize historic photographs and documents,” said historical society president Darrel A. White. “By his own estimation, Crites has spent hundreds of hours over the two year period scanning, organizing and preserving more than 15,000 items.”

Crites has also created more than 60 albums from the digitized materials in an effort to facilitate the use of the materials by society members and the public, said White. Some of the topics include: Grisdale, South Beach, Turnow and Ghoul, Logging Companies, Mills, Military, Pioneer families, Historic Figures, Harbor Schools, Harbor Ships, Montesano, Elma, McCleary, Aberdeen, Cosmopolis, the Lower Harbor, Dairy Day, Floods & Blizzards, Faces of the Century and more.

The award was initiated by the organization’s founder, Randy Beerbower. White said the award had lapsed for several years and, as a result, along with the recognition of this year’s award winner, the society has also chosen to recognize several addition individuals who made extraordinary contributions in resources, time and or effort over the past 20 years. They include Montesano residents Lila Stone and Faun Dotson, Les and Ruth Foss of Montesano, Wynooche Valley resident Bob Simons, Montesano philanthropist and outdoor advocate Jay Sterling (deceased), Oakville author Kelle Metz, Satsop resident Jim Borden (deceased), and McCleary resident Linda Scerbo.