Fallen soldiers banners

Photo by Steve Secrest

This year the banners around the double drive of the McKinley National Memorial feature a fallen Stark County soldier from Iraq or Afghanistan. Each one features a portrait of the soldier and the city or town they are from.

Scott Warner, whose son Private Heath Warner was killed by an IED in Iraq, sponsored these very moving banners.

Since President McKinley was a war veteran himself who died tragically at the hands of an assassin, it is a perfect setting to honor these hometown heroes on our grounds.

When you drive up the majestic double drive, please take a moment to look at each banner as you pass.

Great car show!

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for big fins and lots of CHROME!!

We had a great day for our car show! Everyone had a wonderful time.

Special thanks to all of our volunteers who make this day possible. And to everyone who brought a beautiful car to display. We couldn't have a car show without you all!

Weather looks great for car show this weekend!

Don't miss our 9th annual Cruisin' Thru History CAR SHOW on Saturday June 26!!

It is FREE to come look at the cars. Registration for cars is $10 on the day of the show. If you get your registration here by tomorrow at 4PM, it is only $7.

The show starts at 9:00. Trophies are awarded at 2:30 PM. There will be shows in Discover World, extra Planetarium shows, and we will be serving lunch starting at 10:30 AM. The menu includes hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken -- all grilled fresh by our Special Events Committee! Milk & Honey will be here again selling their delicious ice cream.

Plan to come out and see us this Saturday. It's a great event!

Catching up

I am always a little let down after an exhibition opens. I spend months working on it and make so many lists! And when everything is finally checked off, I find it hard to believe it is actually finished.

So now I have lots of collections work to do. I haven't had a chance to complete the donation paper work for things that have come in over the past several weeks. I like to do them in batches anyway.

But paperwork isn't my favorite thing to do! I LOVE the artifacts, believe me. But there is a lot of work behind processing each one.

I also have posters and signs to make for the car show this weekend. I am caught up on my weekly Repository ads through the end of July. I'm also working on the treasure map for our September 24 event "Treasures of Stark County -- A Behind-the-Scenes Adventure!" Look for more details throughout the summer.

So even though an exhibit is done, there isn't any time to rest! Still lots to get done.

Stories about The Victorian Age

Special thanks to Gary Brown for covering The Victorian Age in the Repository and on his blog!

Click here for the article that appeared in Monday's Rep.

Click here to read Gary's blog post about the exhibit.

We're getting great feedback from visitors! Several people who came in today and yesterday said they decided to come to the museum because they read about The Victorian Age in the paper.

Come see it!! I'm really proud of this one.

Planning for 2011!

Believe it or not, dates for 2011 exhibits, programs and events are due soon for inclusion in the Source Book!

The Marketing Committee met this morning to begin hammering out the details for next year.

There are LOTS of new things to look forward to, including:

• New Tea with the Curator programs on the history of the White House and a look at the tumultuous 1960s
• New Soup at Six programs on presidential transportation, the space race, and the history of the flu
• New Keller Gallery exhibits: "Celebrating the Sixties," "The Green Revolution," and "Unwrapping the Holidays: The History & Traditions of the Yuletide Season"
• PLUS all our regular annual events: McKinley Day, President's Day activities, the Bridal Show, 10th annual Car Show, summer camps, our annual September fundraising event, the Halloween Party, Day after Thanksgiving activities, the Holiday Open House, and the Open Hearth Dinner!
  

Look for more information in the future on this blog, our Facebook page and our website!

What people said about the quilt exhibit

I love to read visitor's comments in our Guest Book in the Keller Gallery!

Here are some of the comments people left:

"Enjoyed the quilt display. Such wonderful work done by our ancestors, so much patience and time."

"It's nice to see our past being taken care of so gracefully! Great job!"

"One word...beautiful! My grandma and I had a wonderful time!"

"Enjoyed every quilt. I think the Dresden Plate was my favorite. Thanks for sharing."

"I love quilting so these quilts fascinated me!" (age 16)

"[in a child's handwriting - and spelling!] The stichwork and quilting were veary alabarat. Thanks."

"History. The greatest tale of all."

"Very nice textile/quilt exhibit. It's good to know the museum staff is doing so much to preserve our past."

"[in a child's handwriting] I really liked the William McKinley quilt that tells about his life. The person who made it must of been very artistic and a good sewer!"

"These quilts are cool!" [and this child drew a quilt patch!]

"Very impressive! Amazing quality! Appreciate the historical exhibit. Thank you!"

"[in "tween" handwriting] I thought it was really cool and learned a lot from it."

"We are quilters from NC. We loved seeing our quilt hertiage. Wonderful exhibit!"

The quilts in here are amazing. I have a quilt at hoem that was made by my great great grandma and my great grandma."

"The coverlet collection is most amazing for its condition. A beautifully displayed quilt exhibit. Makes me very proud and happy to also continue the tradition of more modern, creative quilting techniques."

Exhibit on CVB blog

Click here to read more about the new Victorian Age exhibition on the CVB's blog!

The Victorian Age is FINISHED!

I am thrilled with how The Victorian Age turned out!

It looks exactly like I imagined it would in my mind. It's always fun to see things jump off of the page and into reality!

The exhibition opens tomorrow night -- June 18 -- with a FREE reception from 6 to 8 PM. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. Please call 330-455-7043.

Here are just a few highlights. You have to come in and see this one for yourself to truly appreciate the beauty of these artifacts.


Nine gowns are on display, plus one mourning dress and three of Ida McKinley's gowns


This is my favorite hat in the exhibit!


There are two cases of glass and china, plus a small case of glass 1876 commemorative items


This is a wire bustle, used to prop up the back of women's dresses.


Punch & Judy jack-in-the-box


Children's clothing in the Victorian era was just as fancy as what the grown-ups were wearing!


There is also a corset on display, with its original box!

I hope you will come to see the exhibition. It was a lot of fun to put together and features lots of great information about what it was like to live in the late Victorian era (1870-1900).

It will be on view in the Keller Gallery through November 21, 2010.

Exhibit installation

It is hard to believe that when I came to work on Tuesday morning there were still quilts in the Keller Gallery!

When I left today, all of the BRAND NEW cases were filled with gorgeous Victorian era artifacts!

We are making significant progress on the installation. The new cases look amazing, and I love the bright blue color I chose for the walls.

We have a pretty short list of tasks to complete before next Friday night's opening:

• Hang panels
• Hang children's clothing
• Fabricate freestanding labels
• Adjust lighting for walls (case lighting is DONE!)

And that's about it.

I am thrilled with our progress! Special thanks to Freddy and Steve for all of their hard work helping me in the gallery this week.

This is the part of my job that I love the MOST. :-)

Summer Science Splash on JULY 9!!

(Click on image to make it larger!)

New cases and shelving for the new building!

I am pleased to report that the new cases for the Keller Gallery are HERE!

The are gorgeous, even if you can't really tell in these photos:





The new cases will make their debut in the next Keller Gallery exhibition The Victorian Age, opening June 18. They are modeled after the ones we got from Split Rock Studios in The Stark County Story.

I am SO excited to see how the artifacts really shine against a dark background!

Steve and his crew are also working on building the shelving for the new storage building. Thank you again to Gergory Industries for their generous donation of perimeter shelving!

We also received some small shelving from the Hoover Company a few years ago when they were emptying out their building in North Canton. Those shelves are being installed at the far end of the new building and will house our shoe collection.

As always, there is a lot going on in the Curatorial Department!!!