Another great car show!

We had a record-breaking number of cars at the 10th Annual Cruisin' Thru History CAR SHOW this past Saturday!

Thank you to everyone who came out with their classic rides, and to the many spectators who came to enjoy the cars. It was a great day.

This is just one of the 150+ cars we had on the grounds!

Catching up!

Now that Green Revolution is up, I've got a lot of collections work to do!

This year has been so busy, I am quite behind in getting my Deeds of Gift out in a timely fashion. I prefer to process them in batches, which means sometimes there is a 4-6 week wait. But I've gone from one major project to the next in 2011, so I haven't had a chance to work on my collections backlog. If you've donated something this year, your paper will go out this week!

Voting Booth burned to the ground last night

When I got to work this morning, I could not believe my eyes.

The little portable Voting Booth on the south side of our building was completely destroyed by fire around midnight last night. While we don't know who did it, we do know that there is no way it happened on its own. The building was not electrified, there were no storms in the area last night, and there was absolutely no way people were not involved. Whether it was intentional or a terrible accident that got out of control, we don't know.

What we do know is a piece of Stark County's history is now GONE.

I received a call in 2003 from Habitat for Humanity who was working on a project in the southeast end of town. They said there was an outbuilding on the property that was being used as a shed, but they thought it might have originally been a portable voting booth. They were used throughout Stark County through the mid-20th century, probably the late 1950s. They were placed in the precincts and used as a polling place.

Since we preserve both local and presidential history, it was a perfect opportunity for us. We saved it and brought it to the grounds.

I created an exhibit on voting history to put inside it. Panels talked about the Front Porch Campaign, the 1900 re-election, voting booth history, and general voting highlights over the years. It was open seasonally, free of charge.

Last fall we had the Voting Booth moved to make way for the wind turbine. We had a cement slab poured for it, and we made plans to enhance the exhibit sometime this year.

We are all just so very sad that the Voting Booth was destroyed. Personally, it was the first historic structure I had a part in saving, and I am really going to miss it.

Green Revolution Opens Tomorrow Night!

We are just putting the finishing touches on Green Revolution, a unique traveling exhibit that opens in the Keller Gallery tomorrow night (June 17) with a FREE opening from 6 to 8 PM!

This exciting traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian has ZERO carbon footprint, because we are printing and building the exhibit in-house, based on plans supplied by the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibitions Service (SITES).

The exhibit engages children and families by addressing critical issues concerning the future health of our planet. The exhibit is divided into five sections: “Carbon Footprint,” “Composting & Gardening,” “Energy,” “Hybrid House,” and “Waste Not.” Our staff has been planning, designing and collecting materials to repurpose into creative and educational displays that will inspire people of every age to be part of the “Green Revolution!”

Green Revolution builds awareness of our fragile earth and demonstrates simple solutions to more effectively protect our air, water, soil, and wildlife. Modules include renewable energy, water usage, food choices and reducing our waste. Displays give practical tips on how to “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.” Visitors to the exhibit will learn the effects of climate change on ecosystems and will be able to explore learning modules that show what we can do in our daily lives to improve our Earth!

Have you ever seen a composting toilet? Lehman’s in Kidron is loaning one for the exhibit, as well as other kinds of products that can help you “go green” at your house. Several local businesses and green pioneers will be featured. You can also learn more about what the Museum is doing to reduce our own carbon footprint.

In the spirit of “reuse and recycle,” some components of Green Revolution will be added to Discover World after the exhibit closes in the Keller Gallery on Sunday November 6.

we are also pleased to announce a new partnership with EnviroCellular of Canal Fulton! The Museum will be a collection location for used cell phones that will be reused or recycled. The Museum will receive a portion of the proceeds from EnviroCellular.
You can help keep harmful toxins out of our landfills! We will debut this new program on JUNE 17 at the opening of the Green Revolution exhibit. You may bring your used cell phones to the exhibit opening or drop them off at the Museum anytime.

Celebrate the Sixties CLOSES this weekend!

All good things must come to an end...

The popular Celebrate the Sixties exhibit closes in the Keller Gallery this Sunday, June 5. It has been a tremendous success! And I'm sorry to see it come down. Although, I would like our convertible back since it is finally car show season!

The exhibit inspired many of you to donate 20th century items to our permanent collection. The backlog of new donations in my department is significant! But the artifacts are wonderful.

Next week the people who loaned items are coming in to pick up their stuff, and work will begin on installing our next exhibit -- Green Revolution. We've been working behind-the-scenes for months to get ready. This exhibit has an important message -- we are the stewards of this planet and we MUST think about how we are spending our limited natural resources! There are many simple things we can all do to help. This exhibit will show you how.

Change will come from the bottom up, meaning children "get" the message and are going to teach their parents why it is important to recycle, compost, and explore alternative energy sources.

My schedule for the Keller Gallery is always diverse, because we want to attract as many different audiences as possible. So we will go from the 1960s to green technologies to the history of Christmas! And that's just our 2011 schedule. Just wait 'til you see what we've planned for 2012.

There's lots of fun ahead, so we hope you'll stop by to see what's new in the Keller Gallery. Green Revolution opens on Friday June 17 with a FREE opening reception from 6 to 8 PM. We'll see you there!