Members of the Dawson County Woman's Club donated several wooden chairs and a table to the county earlier this month.

Georgann Schmalz, club president, made the donation official on May 20 by personally handing over ownership to commission chair Mike Berg with a chair from the set.

The furniture came from a meeting room in the historic courthouse.

"We do not use the room or the furniture, which we bought, but the jurors do when in session. We are making the donation to the county as they have use for the table and chairs," she said.

The club purchased the furniture many years ago and used the upstairs room for meetings until the group grew too large to accommodate its members.

The woman's club's room has since been used by the county as a break room for jurors when court was in session before the new government center opened last year.

According to Schmalz, the historic courthouse holds special meaning to members of the woman's club.

Several club members were part of the group that worked to save the building, which was dilapidated and condemned at the time.

After the club paid for a feasibility study, and with the help from community volunteers and donors, as well as funding from the 1-cent referendum dedicated in part to restoring the building, the courthouse was revitalized and now sits on the National Registry of Historic places.

"The Dawson County Woman's Club was involved from the beginning and to show appreciation, the commissioner [Joe Lane Cox] set aside one room on [the] second floor as DCWC room," Schmalz said.

Club member Helen Taylor also played a role in securing a grant to have an elevator installed in the building.