Little Museum Work Completed

Cameron County's Little Museum following work done to its exterior.

Keeping with the Historical Society's plan to bring the Museum up to a new standard of excellence, the group recently hired that famous painting team of local teachers to paint the Little Museum.

Remodeling plans for the vestibule include a photo gallery that will spot light the work of local photographers and offer reproduced historic photographs. This work will be completed for next year's season.

The painters, while working on the belfry, substantiated recently discovered news that the bell was donated to the school by the Sterling Run Catholic Church back in 1931. The bell is stamped with the year 1883 which was around the time when the Church was built in Sterling Run.

Work will be done to get the bell ringing again as the clapper is rusted in place at the present time. The plan is to ring the bell on special occasions like the annual visit of the third grade.

Last week's Sterling Run Reunion brought many alumni to the Museum. They helped identify people in some recently donated school photos and signed the new alumni visitor's book.

This year is the 75th Anniversary of the opening of the school in 1931. The Historical Society has commissioned local artist Bernie Oswald to produce detailed paintings of the Museum on wood. Samples of her work and order forms are available at the Museum.

Visitation is up at the Museum this year over last. Over 400 people have visited so far, with a record 61 visitors Memorial Day Weekend. With 12 more weeks to go this season, the 1,000 visitor mark is once again within reach. Last year there were 535 visitors.

The Historical Society is grateful to the members who have been manning the Museum each weekend and on Wednesdays. The new Saturday hours are catching on as attendance on Saturdays is increasing each week.

Donations are coming in every week. A complied list will appear later. One item of particular interest was a 300+ page scrap book donated by John English rescued from his father's estate.

Started around 1895 by John M. and Helen Gore English, it contains hundreds of obituaries, civil war veteran news and Methodist Church news. What is special is that most of the contents came from the Driftwood Weekly Gazette, of which the Historical Society has only two copies. This is a virtual gold mine for genealogists as many of these obituaries were not printed in the Emporium papers.

Looking for a low cost day trip, consider the Little Museum. Use the picnic pavilion and playground behind the Museum at no charge for family picnics, business meetings, club gatherings and more with a visit to the Museum as an added plus. The Museum is kid friendly with several hands on activities available to pique their interest.

Special arrangements can be made for visits off hours Contact Mike Wennin at 814486-0213 to make an appointment. Check out the website at www.thelittlemuseum.org.