4/23/2013 Julie McDonald Commentary: Local Museums Going in Opposite Direction

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Julie McDonald, Chronicle Columnist

One local museum may need a permanent home and another may require an exorcism.

As the six-month pilot project for the Discover! Children’s Museum nears its halfway point, enthusiasm among the community and volunteers remains high.

That’s the news shared with the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team when the group of local leaders gathered Friday morning at the children’s museum at the Twin City Town Center. I was hoping to see these grownups digging for fossils, making music and linking Legos, but my disappointment faded as I listened to the successful report.

“What we hear from the community is they absolutely love this place,” said Corrine Aiken, of the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Regional Library, after thanking the CCRT for its support.

The numbers bear it out. Since opening Feb. 9, the museum has greeted nearly 6,100 children and adults, hosted 11 birthday parties, and served as a destination field trip for nine preschools, daycares and kindergarten classes.

The highest day saw 276 people walk through the door, while the lowest brought in only 35. Former CCRT Co-chair Larry McGee put the numbers into perspective when he said they had hoped to draw an average of 37 paid people a day; in reality, that average is 118.

“I never would have dreamed it would be this positive,” McGee said. “We are all thrilled with how this is going.”

Volunteers have put in more than 680 hours since Feb. 9, which doesn’t count the hundreds of hours spent planning, painting and creating before the museum opened.

When the pilot project ends July 31, organizers could simply opt to close the museum, or McGee said they may keep it open in the small space it occupies while considering future alternatives, such as relocating to an existing building or, if money is available, building a new museum.

The five pillars of the museum are friendly, fun, family, learning and safe, said Jim Valley, museum director. Parents have commented that the community needed something like this, and only a few grandparents have complained about the $4 per person admission. Valley simply explains that the money keeps the museum operating.

He also noted that nearby stores and restaurants have seen an uptick in business since the museum opened. “We definitely are driving business because we have in a sense become a destination.”

While the children’s museum is doing great, the Lewis County Historical Museum is once again in flux after Johanna Jones, the director hired last March, submitted her resignation. Andy Skinner, a museum volunteer and director finalist last year, will step in as interim director Friday. I wish him all the best.

It’s been sad to see the turmoil at the museum the past few years, especially the annihilation of its nearly $500,000 endowment. During late 2011, I stepped in as secretary and volunteer interim director for a while after the financial meltdown came to light. Last month, Debbie Knapp, former director, pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree theft and paid the museum $20,000. When my term on the board ended in December 2012, I resigned with relief. Some stress is good; some I can do without.

Anyone who wants to bid farewell to Jones and welcome Skinner to his new post is invited to stop by the museum Friday between 4 and 6 p.m.

Margaret Shields, a volunteer for 35 years, is the best thing to happen to the museum. I’m hoping the worst has already happened, but maybe it’s time to call in a priest or a shaman for an exorcism. OK, I’m saying this rather tongue-in-cheek, but I’d like to see all ghosts put to rest and any bad karma banished.

Julie McDonald, a personal historian and former journalist who lives in Toledo, owns Chapters of Life, a company dedicated to preserving family stories. She may be reached at memorybooks@chaptersoflife.com.