By Order of the Queen!

By order of the Queen of Hearts, you are here by summoned to attend the Living Heritage Museum’s Very Merry Unbirthday Party!

Don't be late for this very important date! We are celebrating the Living Heritage Museum's Very Merry 25th Unbirthday June 13, 2007 at 10:00 am until 2:30 pm. (Rain date June 20th).

Come dressed as your favorite character & fall into the kaleidoscopic world of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Living Heritage Museum & the start of the Kid’s Club. Kids (and the kid at heart) can experience the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Queen of Hearts Croquet, a costume contest, arts & crafts, games & story time at our Very Merry UnBirthday Party!

Admission: $5.00 per child & one free adult. Ask about Group Rates!

Enjoy the afternoon on your lunch break. Order your lunch at Keith Mansion ($10.00 box lunch) and have it waiting for you at the Museum. Don't miss the fun and the free croquet demonstration!

Contact the Museum today for tickets or more information! 423-745-0329

Kids and Quilts

As part of the celebration of the Living Heritage Museum's 25th Annual Quilt Show, Museum staff recently brought the quilts into the classroom as part of the Kid's Connection After School Program where the children, in Kindergarten through the sixth grade were able to make their own quilt square after getting an introduction into the history and construction of quilts. The squares are on display at the Museum until June 30th when the quilt show closes, so be sure to come in an vote for your favorite!

Living Heritage Museum Offers Free Day to Area Girl Scouts

The McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee honors area Girl Scouts March 17, 2007 when Girl Scouts can tour the Living Heritage Museum for free! Girl Scouts has been making a difference in the lives of girls for over 90 years. Just as membership has grown (from 18 to nearly 4 million!), so has their place in history and their role as innovative and committed advocates for girls everywhere. In 2003 the Girl Scouts of the USA proudly announced passage of Senate Resolution 79, declaring the week of March 9th to 15th as National Girl Scout Week. The resolution passed the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent. Each year Girl Scout Week commemorates the 1912 founding of Girl Scouting in the United States by Juliette Gordon Low. In the 91 years since, the organization has helped shape the lives of more than 50 million women.

The Museum will also have information that will be available about the new Girl Scout Badge Program that will available this spring that is sponsored in part by a grant from Volunteer Electric. This is your chance to be one of the first to see the new Living Heritage Museum Badge. Admission is free to Scouts but we do ask that Scout Leaders call in advance to let us know they are coming and to encourage their Scouts to wear their uniform. If you have any questions, or if you would like to be placed on our emailing list to receive updates on Scouting programs, please contact the Living Heritage Museum at 423-745-0329. Can’t make it on Saturday? Call today to find out how you can reschedule your free Scout Tour!

Museum Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 AM-5:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Closed on major holidays.

Museum Junior Docent Program-Orientation March 1st!

The McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee has begun a Junior Docent Program for students between the ages of 12 and 18. In a recent effort to recruit new volunteers at the Living Heritage Museum, several of our area youth have expressed an interest in volunteering. To fill this need, the Living Heritage Museum has developed a Junior Docent Program.

There’s more to being a Junior Docent than just being a tour guide. From helping in the gift shop to doing research to helping develop exhibits there’s sure to be something to stir your interest. Students are trained to participate in a variety of educational programming such as leading tours, welcoming visitors, helping customers in the gift shop, supporting staff in research, hosting special events and assisting with hands-on projects.

The Museum asks its volunteers for a commitment of time and effort, enthusiasm, and a positive and supportive attitude. In return, we offer the benefits of interacting with artists, scholars and museum staff; developing and expanding public speaking skills; broadening your knowledge of history; a sense of achievement in working with the public and the rewards of working in a warm and friendly environment. No formal background is required and no experience is necessary. We seek dependable, friendly, enthusiastic and committed people who enjoy working with diverse groups of people, learning through doing, and examining the world through its artifacts.

Join us for a fun filled evening Thursday, March 1, 2007 for the Junior Docent and Parent Orientation. This informal get-together will be held in the Guild Room of the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum, located on the bottom floor of the Museum. Class begins at 6:00 pm and end at 7:30 pm. And don’t worry, dinner’s on us!

This is your opportunity to meet the Museum staff, get a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the Museum and find out what the guidelines and expectations are for the Docent Program. Docents will also receive their official Junior Docent Handbook full of important information. This is also the perfect time to come with any questions you may have about the Program.

Please have your Junior Docent Applications returned to the Museum by February 26, 2007. If you would like a copy of the application forms, stop by the Museum between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, call 745-0329 or go online at http://www.livingheritagemuseum.com/. Docents should be between the ages of 12 and 18.

• Diane Hutsell, Executive Director

Celebrating History and Families

It's an exciting time at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum. The year 2007 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Museum and is the catalyst for several new and exciting changes that will take place as we celebrate our anniversary and next generation of Museum visitors.

The Living Heritage Museum is all about visitors and we’re striving to make everyone not only feel welcome once they have entered our doors, but feel able and eager to take those first few steps towards them. Museums often have the stereotype of being a highbrow place that are fine for kids to visit as long as they’re quiet and touch nothing. However, if we curtail their unfiltered attraction to history as a child, how can we demand they appreciate it as an adult?While we have always welcomed families, we are working hard at the promotion of family-friendly policies, attitudes and exhibitions with our new “Kids Initiative.” We will provide the tools parents need to help themselves and their kids interact with history with several new components sure to spark kids, and parents, interest, including a Kid’s Club, a Passport to History Program, a Junior Docent Program, a Junior Board of Directors to get ideas from kid’s themselves and a Boy/Girl Scout badge program. And that’s not all! Kids Club members will receive newsletters full of fun information and games. Every exhibit and program that is offered will include something that visitors of all ages are sure to find enjoyable and engaging.We’ll still continue with the great annual exhibits and shows that have made the Living Heritage Museum a success. The 25th Annual Quilt Show will take place May 5 – June 30, 2007 and will include several new programs to help celebrate the anniversary of the Museum and the quilt show.

So make your plans to visit the Living Heritage Museum throughout 2007. You'll never know what you'll find when you get here. And be sure to come back to our new blog, Museum Pieces, every day. Museum staff and volunteers will be contributing to the website on a daily basis so you can keep current with what's new at the Museum.

• Diane Hutsell, Executive Director