Wolf Point Native Presented With Museum Excellence Award

By Bill Vander Weele

Wolf Point native Shanna (Hopson) Schuster recently accepted the Museum Maintenance Excellence award from the Naval History and Heritage Command in honor of the achievements made by USS Slater.

Schuster has worked for the USS Slater on the Hudson River in Albany, N.Y., for the last four years. She serves as the head of interns and tour guides. In addition, she manages the museum collection.

The USS Slater is a museum ship and the only destroyer ship that retained its wartime configuration. During World War II, 563 destroyer escorts battled the enemy. The USS Slater is the only ship that remains afloat in the United States. Moored on the Hudson River, the USS Slater has undergone an extensive restoration that has returned the ship to her former glory.

The Museum Maintenance Excellence award was in honor of the preservation of the ship and specifically the restoration of the mast to its historically accurate configuration from 1945. Schuster accepted the award on behalf of Slater volunteers and will formally present it to the crew during a fundraising event.

After graduating from Wolf Point High School in 2009, she earned a degree in history from Montana State University in Bozeman.

Her husband, Michael, also graduated from Wolf Point High School and went on to earn a masters degree in engineering. He works for GE Global Research and also volunteers at the USS Slater.