A Grand Opening
Well, it’s finally here. Beyond the Log Cabin is officially open. And a wonderful opening evening it has been. The exhibit itself opened to the public for two hours this afternoon and we had an excellent group of people visit. We then closed the museum for the invitation only grand opening event. Allen Bocook and the staff of Mary’s Catering Kitchen provided wonderful food and the crowd really got to take a good look at the exhibit. In addition, Kent Whitworth and Marlyn Zoidis from the Kentucky Historical Society joined us for this special opening. All in all, I think tonight will go down as one of the highlights in the history of the Highlands Museum.
For those of you who couldn’t make it today, don’t worry. This one of a kind exhibit will be here until February 19, 2010. This gives you plenty of time to come and see this grand traveling exhibit.
Until next time…
-Dan
October 1, 2009
Beyond the Log Cabin…Opening Tomorrow
This has been a busy two weeks. We have had the some of the wonderful staff of the Kentucky Historical Society installing Beyond the Log Cabin in the Cecil Fannin Family Events & Exhibits Hall. I can assure you this has been quite an undertaking. For those of you that have been in the museum, you know that this exhibit hall is the largest room in the building. This exhibit takes up almost the entire space. So you can absolutely believe me when I tell you that this is one of the largest exhibits that has ever been on display at the Highlands Museum. I’d pretty sure it is the largest exhibit since the move from the Mayo Mansion in 1994. While I am not going to give away all of the secrets of the exhibit, I can say that everyone needs to come by and experience this exhibit before it leaves Ashland on February 19, 2010. I should mention that, as of right now, we are the final museum that will be hosting this exhibit. We are fortunate indeed to have been selected by the Kentucky Historical Society to host this exhibit and I am looking forward to a great five month run.
I should mention that the exhibit officially opens at 4:00 PM. And, as a special bonus, the exhibit will be open from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM free of charge. Please consider this your invitation to join us during this time and, after we close at 6:00, go check out the many activities that are planned on Winchester Avenue for First Friday.
I’ll be back tomorrow night to let you know about the opening day. Until then…
-Dan
September 23, 2009
Construction Zone
Please pardon our mess…
If you come into the Highlands Museum right now, you will see a lot of those signs. The reason is because the museum looks like somewhat of a construction zone with three new exhibits going in at the same time. Of course, the largest and most labor intensive is Beyond the Log Cabin. This exhibit will take up the entire Cecil Fannin Family Events & Exhibits Hall. Fortunately, the exhibits team from the Kentucky Historical Society are taking care of that install. I can assure everyone that this is most likely the largest exhibit that the Highlands Museum has ever seen. If it isn’t, it is for sure the largest exhibit since the museum moved into the Parsons Department Store building. My coworkers have been calling it a Smithsonian-quality exhibit. I, on the other hand, compare it to some of the larger exhibits we had at COSI. And to top it off, we are only one of three museums in the world to display this exhibit. In fact, we are the last museum where this exhibit will be on dispaly. Ashland is fortunate to have this exhibit come our way and I encourage everyone to stop by after October 2 to see this fantastic exhibit.
In addition to Beyond the Log Cabin, we are also in the process of installing an exhibit on vintage toys and games and will be installing a Barbie exhibit in the near future. But even though there is a lot of construction and exhibit development right now, there is lots to see and do at your local museum. We encourage you to stop by and enjoy. Just be careful around the exhibit installs.
Until next time…
-Dan
P.S. The reason I haven’t blogged in a while is because of some unplanned technical difficulties. Thanks goes out to Bill and the rest of the staff at TSG for getting me back online.
August 29, 2009
Working on Saturdays
One thing that I knew about my job is that I would have to work on rotating Saturdays. For me, that is not a problem. I actually like working on a rotating Saturday schedule since it gives me a Monday every three weeks to take care of things that have to be done during the work week without taking time out of my lunch or taking time off.
The reason I mentioned this is because on Saturdays, the office is either quiet or extremely busy. Today falls in the latter category. We had members of the Kentucky Creative Arts Club picking up artwork from a show that closed yesterday, a new artist bringing his work in and three children’s birthday parties. On top of that, Kaney (one of our hard working adult volunteers), with the assistance of a student volunteer, proceeded to stuff, seal and sort educator information packets that will go to schools from Morehead to Nitro and from Portsmouth to Paintsville. That is over 270 schools in all. (By the way, our goal is to get those out sometime this coming week. So if you are a teacher, be asking your school secretary or principal if they have received their information packet). That makes for a very busy Saturday.
Anyway, I had better go. I just realized that it is 4:40 PM and we close in 20 minutes. I need to go close the cash registers and start turning off exhibits. Where has the time gone. LOL
Until next time…
Dan
August 19, 2009
Decluttering the office
Anyone that knows me can testify with assurance that I am what you would call a “disorganized pack rat”. That includes my home, my car and my office. Right now, however, it is worse than normal. But today that is a good thing. We have some new office equipment that is replacing both my printer and my scanner. It has created more room but, since I am a pack rat, just means a place to put more stuff.
If you are in the middle of decluttering, don’t forget the museum and our Attic Sale. We are accepting donations for that now. Just drop your gently used items off here at the museum or call to arrange for a pick-up. Your donation will be used to further the educational and cultural mission of the museum. The Attic Sale is Saturday, Sept. 15 from 10 AM – 5 PM and Sunday, Sept. 16 from 1 – 5 PM. Admission is only $1.
In addition to decluttering, I am preparing to go to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville tomorrow to see Beyond the Log Cabin. I have heard many great thing about this exhibit and am excited for it’s opening here at the Highlands Museum on October 2. I will let you know about the trip and the highlights of the exhibit next week.
Until next time…
-Dan
August 8, 2009
Getting Educated
One thing that I have learned about blogging is that, while it is a fun project, it takes a little time. Over the past week, however, my time has been devoted to putting the finishing touches on the 2009-2010 Discovery Workshop descriptions and objectives. It is this time of year, more than any other, that I fall back on my days doing lesson plans. For people that know me, they know that I perfer to be interacting with the public. I do, however, realize that the planning process is crucial to a successful program. This is why I take a lot of time when planning the Discovery Workshops.
As for the workshops themselves, I am going to make you wait a couple of more days before I announce them to the public. The good news is that we will be announcing them sometime next week. Once they are announced, we will begin accepting reservations from schools immediately. And if you are a teacher, I encourage you to consider visiting the museum. A tour of our exhibits alone can be an education and informative field trip for your students. If you add a Discovery Workshop, however, you will find an inexpensive and fun way to enrich your student’s learning experience.
Until next time, we will see you at the museum.
-Dan
July 29, 2009
Here’s To That Rainy Day.
It’s a great day outside the museum today. A great day for ducks, that is. Poor Leigh Ann (our fearless leader) came in from lunch absolutely soaked. When I went to lunch, I found out why. My clothes were dripping wet when I got into the car. The funny thing about that is I only walked across the alley behind the museum and into the parking garage.
The great thing about rainy days is that it is a perfect time to visit the Highlands Museum. It is a safe, inviting and dry place for children to explore and have fun on days when a trip to the park or swimming pool is a bad idea. One other nice thing is that the children end up learning something on their visit (but we don’t have to tell them that).
So the next time it is rains on your plans, why not visit the Highlands Museum. You’ll have a great time and won’t need your umbrella (at least once you reach the front door).
-Dan
July 28, 2009
Bring us your stuff…
As we at the museum wind down from Night at the Highlands, we are already preparing for our next major fundraiser. The museum’s annual Attic Sale is only a little more than a month away. This year’s Attic Sale will be on September 19 – 20, concurrent with Poage Landing Days. There will be a preview sale on the evening of Friday, September 18. Admission to the preview sale is $10 and admission on Saturday and Sunday is $1.
In addition, we are now accepting donations for the Attic Sale. We will take any of your gently used items with the exception of clothing and computers. All you need to do is either bring your items to the museum or contact us. We will even pick up your items for you. It’s a great way to clean out your closets and help support your museum.
-Dan
July 25, 2009
The Exhibits are Alive…
Night at the Highlands is officially in the history books and, from my vantage point, was a great success. We had lots of people come through the museum tonight and it seemed like everyone was having a great time. Here is a sample of some of the pictures that were taken tonight:
Ms. Gertrude Ramey (played by Trish Hall)
Our medical staff at the ready.
Joe Bob the security guard (played by Kaney Goble)
Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln relaxing
If you want to see more pictures, I’m sure Jennifer will have them posted to both our Facebook and MySpace accounts soon.
Before this tired archaeologist heads home, I do want to thank a few people who helped make tonight a success. First off, to our volunteers, both from our regular volunteer corps and those who came out especially for tonight. Things like this don’t happen without a great group of volunteers. Then there is Tommy Gillespie for writing such a great script. He literally put the words in our mouths. Where Tommy gave us the words, Magic Makers of Huntington gave some of us the costumes on our backs. We thank them as much as possible for their support. Finally, none of this would have happened without our office manager, Jennifer Criswell, taking the initiative to lead this project. Having been the point person on Night at the Apollo last February, I can speak from experience that events like these take a lot of time and energy. She absolutely ran with it and made it a great night. For that, this museum is grateful.
Anyway, time for me to lock up the museum and head home. I hope I don’t run into Joe Bob as I leave.
Until next time…
-Roy Chapman Andrews the archaeologist (aka Dan the Director of Operations)
July 24, 2009
T- 1 hour
The museum is bustling with activity, which is unusual since we are closed. There is a lot of last minute preparation for Night at the Highlands happening right now. Things are happening at a fast pace and I can hear Jennifer (Criswell, the museum’s office manager) getting those final details togther for a 6:30 PM opening. I am actually filling a part so I will try to get Jennifer and Leigh Ann to take some pictures. The plan is to try to get those up as soon as I can along with a full report. If you get a chance, come down and join the fun. If not, I will return with a report when we close at 8:30.
-Dan
(By the way, if you do come down, be sure to check out that archaeologist. He may resemble everyone’s favorite museum blogger. LOL)