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Oak Creek — Laurie Elendu says she felt like she was walking into a very exciting adventure last March, when she became curator of the Tracks and Trails Museum in Oak Creek.

Community members in South Routt County had been working for years to establish the museum. On July 28, the museum finally opened in a restored Main Street building that was once Town Hall - for Elendu, it has been full steam ahead ever since.

"One of the greatest pleasures of being here is everyone works so well together," Elendu said. "They believe in what they're doing, and they know the value of knowing their history and preserving their history."

Elendu became part of the South Routt community just a year before the museum opened. She moved from Michigan with her 6-year-old daughter, Ikechi.

Elendu's decision to move - to be closer to family in Colorado and Wyoming - also worked out well for the museum, said Mike Yurich. He is a member of the Historical Society of Oak Creek and Phippsburg, and volunteers his time as the museum's archivist.

"For her to come in when she did, I think somebody answered our prayers," Yurich said. "I collected all the stuff, but what she has really brought to us is the professional look that we have. She keeps us looking more toward the future and keeps us on track as far as what we should be doing as far as a museum goes."

Elendu's love for museums began when she got a job at Michigan State University's museum while attending school.

"I actually just walked in one day because I wanted some experience in museum work," said Elendu, who has master's degrees in art history, interior design preservation and conservation, and American studies with an emphasis on Native American studies.

Elendu's grandfather was a member of the Lakota Native American tribe, and before moving to Colorado she was a researcher at a law firm that specializes in representing Native American tribes.

She also served as the first fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian.

Elendu said the curator position in Oak Creek was an opportunity for personal growth as well as community growth.

"This fit neatly in what I was trying to do and my interest in museums," she said.

What she likes most about the job is the opportunity to tell a more complete story about South Routt using the stories of individuals and artifacts.

"I think that's the purpose of a museum," she said. "To help them understand their present."

There is an added benefit to working at the museum.

"I'm always learning," Elendu said.