ARLINGTON — After 103 years, the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneers’ annual reunion and picnic has become a comfortably routine affair. Members bring potluck dishes to Pioneer Hall before receiving updates from the president of their association and the mayor of Arlington.

Unfortunately, a shortage of volunteers has become an accepted part of that routine. President Myrtle Rausch expressed her appreciation to the three high school and two college students currently pitching in for the Pioneers. However, she noted that the average age of volunteers is between 75-80. At age 75, she’s one of the younger members, and she frequently has volunteers in their 80s and 90s helping her out.

“It’d be nice to get some more of the descendants of our current members, since they already know a lot of what’s going on around here,” said Rausch, who estimated that only half of the Pioneers’ members are either ambulatory or live close enough to help out.

“We still need docents to help show visitors around our museum,” she added. “We’re not set up for folks to just wander through. We need people who can tell them where to go and what we have, and what the history of it all is.”

The Pioneer Museum strives to stay open three days a week, and also make itself available by appointment for tours. Just as important is the manual labor and maintenance to keep up the Pioneers’ facilities. Since the last picnic, that hasn’t been a lot — Pioneer Hall had a new hot water heater installed, and the Pioneer Museum received a new furnace and a fresh coat of paint on its porch poles — but with a labor crew in their 80s, those tasks become more challenging.

The Pioneers tout the age of their members as a resource. As they do every year, they honored the oldest man and woman born in the Stillaguamish Valley — Harley Robb, 93, and Martha Young, nee Grimm, 92 — as well as the longest married couple with one of them born in the valley, which was again Sylvia and J.Y. Dycus, married 71 years now.

But if they’re going to pass their legacy on, the Pioneers will need younger members, Rausch said.

The Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Hall and Museum are at 20722 67th Ave NE in Arlington. For details, log onto www.stillymuseum.org or call 360-435-7289.