Spring/Summer And Wouldn't You Know! Your AH&AS Board of Directors recognized that sufficient progress has been made in several of your museum's exhibits to warrant opening to the public on a regular monthly basis. The time frame chosen was fourth Sunday of each month, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. February 23rd was the first official, regular monthly opening, and was quite successful. Visitors were interested, asked questions, offered items, ideas and/or information that would add to an exhibit, and gave very encouraging comments as they walked through. Docents were at each exhibit to explain, answer questions and receive comments. And then March arrived with its uninvited pandemic. Work in some of the exhibits continued for a short while, with Phil Barth adding his magic touch. Additions to the military and education areas enhance the items already in place. As the seriousness of Covid-19 began to sink into the American mind, and local and state mandates were pput in place, all work in the museum ceased. However, some board and committee members are making good use of this downtime to add to our record keeping and credentials by putting in hours at their home computers and internet service. "Hope springs eternal..." and the day will come that the doors will open to weleome visitors and workers once more, In the meantime, stay well and stay at home! * * . Brick Project At the present time, our brick project fundraiser is still alive and well. We have 101 4" x 8" bricks in place along with 38 8" x 8", Now that we have ten new requests, we can send off the next order. Why ten, you ask? Free shipping with ten or more! Can you imagine shipping charges on just two or three bricks? Ayden Historical & Arts Society April ,2020 Our Town History Video For several months we have had a revolving video showing in the museum lobby. Painstakingly put together by Andrea Norris, it shows many buildings and businesses long gone, and many old newspaper advertisements for the same... Never satisfied with the finished product, she has enhanced the viewing by adding additional photos, slowing the viewing time for each, and even adding a musical background. When ‘we are again open to the public, you will want to sit down and watch history unfold before you. ek ek koe Volume II, Issuel Membership Our Fall/Winter newsletter included an envelope for this year's membership dues. And we do appreciate the results from that. However, if'you put yours aside to "do that later,” and then lost sight of it, this would be a good time to catch up! Please know that every dollar spent is carefully determined, and used in a way to get the most bang for your buck. oe oe Christmas Open House Our Christmas Open House with Doll, Dollhouse and Toy Exhibit was a success! Over fifty guests, young and old, enjoyed hot cider and cookies and, for some, a walk down memory lane. Dolls from Jackie Jones’ collection of Madame Alexander Dolls and other unique dolls of hers, plus the dollhouse her dad (C.C. Little) built for her in the 1970s were the highlights of the open house, Betty Carraway's 117 year-old boy doll that had belonged to her great- grandmother, and Andrea Nortis's 100 year-old baby doll that had belonged to her mom (Nan Harris) were also items of great interest. "Oh! I had Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys,” was heard more than once!Exhibits Update In the Military Exhibit, Dr. Smith's WWI letter is, featured, along with available copies. Our intem, Meredith Stroud, spent a good bit of her summer researching names of Ayden veterans from all branches of service, Phil Barth has created a wall to honor our veterans, both peace and wartime. New items from the WWII era have been added to the displays. A section devoted to our Veterans Park will soon be in place. A new video for the Education Exhibit is being assembled. It will include photos from Ayden High School, South Ayden Schools, Third Street School and of course today's schools. Photographed group activities from years past will be included, If you and/or someone ‘you know are in one of the older photos, there will be a place for you to write the name(s) to be included in our logs. Photos from Ayden-Grifton High School's first year are needed...t0 keep or to copy. We've just recently received new farming items that, have been placed in the Agricultural Exhibit. Faye Bowen Weeks generously donated items from her late hhusband’s collection, and Ken Sumrell and Elbert Buck have given several tobacco items. We even have a miniature tobacco barn built by Steve Raines when he was in school. Among the next major projects underway is Our Barbecue History. Eric Walls and Dale Cockrell are working to get it pulled together. In the Art Gallery, a wall hanging system is on the "wish list." Once it is purchased and installed, not only will the paintings/photographs be more attractively displayed, changing items periodically will be much easier and accommodating changes in size will take little effort. see Display Signage Inan effort to make your museum as self-directed as possible, signs have been placed by all items in the exhibits. And where the item is one of those "what in the world is that" kind of thing, information on what it is and how it was used is included, STEPS Standards and Excellence Programs ‘The American Association for State and Local History has a self-study program designed specifically for small to mid-sized history organizations. Dale Cockrell and Eric Walls are currently working through the study, strengthening our ways of caring for your collections, keeping accurate records, planning exhibits, working with aboard, etc, Even though we are small, we want to be as, careful and productive in our own way as any larger institution, Dale and Eric will use this program to help our board evaluate work to date, to idemtify our strengths, and target areas for improvement. We appreciate the time they are giving to this study. er) Business Meeting Highlights Atthe February general meeting of AH&AS, the Society's constitution was revised in a few areas to make it current with our actual progress. At the same meeting, officers were elected for the 2020-2022 term, Those lected are: President - Andrea Norris; Vice President - Alice Cannon-Parker; Secretary/Treasurer - Victoria W. Killmon; Corresponding Secretary - Page Worthington; Exhibits Director - Phil Barth. + 8 ® From the 1916 Book of Town Ordinances Section 33: Every owner or occupant of a lot on Firs ‘Second, Third, Lee, Blount, and west R. R. streets are required to clean off the sidewalks adjoining their lot ofall rank weeds and grass, between August 1st and 15th of each year, fr as often as is necessary. Any person falling so to do shall pay a fine of $5.00. [Ed note: OK..just got to ask two questions... what defined a "rank" weed from any other weed, and 2, who decided you cleared before and/or after August I-15? (And can you imagine the size of any weed that you waited until August Ito dispatch?) nee ee Editor: Pago Wawhinglon Publisher: TGoumof Ayden