On June 5^th in Boise, Idaho, the Idaho State Historical Society honored Cottonwood native, Don Kopczynski, his wife Dena, and Nezperce residents, Mike and Jeanne Wasko, with Esto Perpetua Awards. Shelley Kuther of the Ilo-Vollmer Historical Society also nominated the Waskos. The award celebrates individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the preservation and promotion of Idaho’s rich history through professional achievements, public service, volunteerism, or philanthropy. It takes its name from Idaho's state motto, which translates to "Let It Be Perpetual." 
The two couples were nominated by Carla Wilkins, Director of the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude for their work preserving the history of Greencreek. Wilkins highlighted their efforts with these words:
In 1908, 15-year-old Henry F. Nuxoll bought a camera with a $20 gold piece he had saved. It was the only camera known to be in Greencreek, Idaho and he was invited everywhere to take photos. Although he built a darkroom in the family home to develop and sell prints of family events, many of his photos were never seen. He continued to take photos for years, but the photos he took from 1908 to 1930 are the only ones in existence.
Henry died in 1987 and his 75-glass slide collection and other photographs, stored in an old dynamite box, stayed on the farm inherited by his son Andrew. When Andrew died in Nov. 2004, his attorney, Michael Wasko acquired the photos.
It is no surprise Mike would lug home a collection of unmarked photos that had nothing to do with him. He and his wife, Jeanne, are well-known historians who helped acquire the building for the City of Nezperce museum.
The Waskos contacted Bill Bridge, a professional photographer in Grangeville who was the only person in the area who dealt with glass slides. He said that scanning the slides was too much for him, even with the Waskos’ help. Eventually they purchased a second-hand scanner advertised to scan glass slides. They could never make it work for the glass slides, but it was helpful in digitizing the actual photographs from the collection and Mike, Jeanne, and their daughter, Maliya, completed that task. Meanwhile, the Waskos stored and safeguarded these photographs & slides of a town and family that had no connection to them and continued to try to find help. 
Years passed and in 2020, avid historians, Don & Dena Kopczynski of Spokane began cataloging, and identifying old family photos. Don is a native of Cottonwood and posted historic photos on a Cottonwood Facebook page. Knowing the Cottonwood Chronicle had nothing to publish during the lockdown, he also submitted historic photos for them to publish – some for fun and others for help with identification. The chatter created by those postings started the couple searching for a photo of Don's grandfather’s homestead near Greencreek and that led them to the Waskos.  
The two couples met in Nezperce. The Waskos had learned a great deal about the history of Greencreek and the Nuxoll family. They told the Kopczynskis about acquiring the slides and their efforts through the years to scan them. Intrigued with the idea of 100-year-old never seen before images, Don & Dena researched and personally paid for a $1,600 scanner. The two couples met several times to process the 750 glass slides, at the rate of 20 slides per hour. 
The Waskos were able to identify some of the people and places in the photographs. To identify others, they arranged a meeting at the Nezperce Library/Community Center inviting family & community members. The two couples arranged many such meetings. In addition, the Kopczynskis visited homes, sent images to family members, talked to people at community celebrations, contacted the Nuxoll Worldwide Facebook site for help, and even visited Greencreek, Illinois to interview people. They downloaded the images onto multiple flash drives to give to the Nuxoll family, to other members of the community, and to the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude’s. 
By January 2022, they made a coffee table book for themselves and as a gift to the Waskos, selecting about 300 images. As more images were identified, they created a larger version of the book with 400 images. They gave away the oversized hard-bound books with a flat binding which cost $200 each to print, to people who helped, to members of the Nuxoll family and to charity auctions. Eventually, more photos were identified and in late 2022, a 3^rd edition was printed. They donated 38 of the books to the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude – one to keep and the others to sell. They sold fast at their printing cost of $200 each. It was a $7,600 donation by the Kopczynskis and made the books available to the public. In addition, the Kopczynski’sallowed anyone who wanted a copy of the book to contact them for another printing. The project is ongoing as they continue to work to identify photos.
In November 2022, after storing the glass slides for eighteen years, Mike & Jeanne Wasko donated them to St. Gertrude’s Museum. In late 2024, Don Kopczynski then accessioned the glass slides into the museum’s collection, something that would have taken weeks or months to accomplish by an employee unfamiliar with the photos.
Thanks to the tenacity of these two couples, we know what the town of Greencreek looked like in its infancy – its school, church, hall, homesteads, activities, and people. It takes true historians to take unmarked pictures of families unrelated to you and dedicate hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to preserve their history. 
Also attending the ceremony were Don’s sister Theresa Wessels, Jeanne’s sister Sharon Jacobs, Mike and Jeanne’s son Jake and his wife Jamie, Carla and Jeff Wilkins and Shelley Kuther.