The volunteers of The Hattie Weber Museum will celebrate Jim Becket’s 83rd birthday and his retirement as director of the museum with a party from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the museum, 445 C St. in downtown Davis. Community members are invited.

Becket, who will become director emeritus, began volunteering at the museum in 2005. He soon became interim director and, in 2009, director. He developed a core team: Dennis Dingemans, who will become the new director; Virginia Isaacs and Roberta Stevenson, longtime docents; Mary Lee Thomson, exhibit coordinator; Adrian Gabriel and Stella Dinger, collections managers, and Marilee Dupree, Mary Ann Harrison and Margaret Hill, who assist with special events.

Isaacs died last year and is missed greatly, her colleagues say.

Becket has been involved in the Davis community since he was an undergraduate at UC Davis in the 1940s and ‘50s, writing for the California Aggie and playing varsity basketball. He left briefly for teaching jobs and to earn his Ph.D., but he always returned to Davis.

Under Becket’s leadership, the museum has become a “happening place” and assumed a greater role in the community. The scope of exhibits has been enlarged and more historical information has been made available through publications and articles.

Families and children have been welcomed with the establishment of a toy corner for kids to play in while their parents enjoy the museum, and special events such as Pig Day displays, Christmas “goodie bags,” Easter bunny visits, Halloween treats and others.

The museum has participated in several ArtAbout tours and volunteers are planning more.

Led by Becket, museum volunteers are mounting a campaign to preserve the adjacent 1937 restroom building, which is the only building in the city constructed with funds from the New Deal’s Works Public Administration during the Great Depression.

The building is slated for demolition this spring when new restroom facilities are built. The volunteers propose “repurposing” of the building for museum storage and display space. Becket is developing a proposal to make the building the centerpiece of a “history plaza” in Central Park.

The reinstitution of brick sales for the Hattie Weber rose garden patio by Becket now provides the museum with a steady income for operating expenses. The number of visitors — local, national and international — is steadily increasing, a news release said.

In 2010, Becket received the C.A. Covell Trophy as Citizen of the Year, in part because of his work at the museum. He continues to participate in church activities and is active in Kiwanis events such as the Kiddie Parade and Christmas bell-ringing for the Salvation Army.

He intends to continue to be a presence at the museum, the news release said.

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