Sports fans, if you like sports and like to meet people, now is the time to find out how to be a volunteer at the Oklahoma Sports Museum in Guthrie.

The museum needs more volunteers to be open full time to allow more visitors to tour Oklahoma’s official sports museum. The museum is housed in three buildings totaling 13,000 square feet. It has more than 1,000 items on display from more than 430 of Oklahoma’s professional and Olympic athletes.

From June 21 to July 21, the museum is actively recruiting Oklahoma sports fans who can donate their time to serve as OSM greeters and staff the museum.

The goal of the month-long recruiting drive is to secure commitments from volunteers willing to work four-hour shifts. These shifts can be as little as once a month or as much as once a week. The museum’s goal is to be open eight hours on weekdays and extended hours on weekends and holidays.

The recruiting drive culminates with all potential volunteers being invited to attend a special reception Saturday afternoon, July 21, at the museum to honor Hall of Fame Pitcher Fergie Jenkins.

The reception will celebrate the volunteer spirit of Oklahoma’s sports fans and recognize Jenkins as one of the museum’s founders. Jenkins will be honored for his work with the museum on the tenth anniversary of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21, 1991.

Jenkins was a founder of the museum in 1992, along with Harlem Globetrotter Geese Ausbie from Crescent, Okla., and former Guthrie school official Richard Hendricks.

Jenkins will sign autographs at the reception and speak about his first decade as a Hall of Famer and his public service work with the museum.

"We want to recruit Oklahoma’s sports fans to be a part of this all-volunteer project," Jenkins said. "Volunteers can take pride in helping spread the word about Oklahoma’s rich athletic tradition and occasionally be a part of special events involving sports superstars like the Warren Spahn Award."

From 1967 to 1980, Jenkins achieved the improbable-- he led Major League Baseball in wins (251) while pitching at home mostly in hitters’ ballparks. He earned Hall of Fame status by being the only pitcher in the last 40 years to win 20 games or more a year for six straight seasons.

Volunteers should contact OSM Executive Director Richard Hendricks at (405) 260-1342 or OSM PO Box 1342, Guthrie Okla., 73044. He will schedule a time for orientation to the museum’s collections and programs.

The OSM plans to have a gala opening soon and continue to be open full time shortly after the recruiting drive. The OSM’s board of trustee are working to publish tourism flyers reflecting the new hours to be distributed to all Oklahoma tourism sites.