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November 2008 |
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History, art lovers have a variety of activities close by |
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Written by Kimberly Gray
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Monday, 14 July 2008 |
If you are looking for something to do this summer, and would like to do it out of the heat, then try visiting a museum or historical or art center.
Museums offer not only an educational experience, but they can also be fun with a variety of activities and interesting things to view and experience.
Sweetwater is home to two museums. Its oldest is the Pioneer Museum, located at 610 East Third and open from 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
Fun exhibits include the old fire engines and carriages and a classroom from yesteryear. Upstairs there are bedrooms set up right out of the past when the first settlers came to Nolan County. These exhibits include clothing from the time period.
You will also find extensive photograph files, farm and ranch exhibits and Indian artifacts.
According to the Pioneer Museum director, Franzas Cupp, they will be hosting their annual summer quilt show in a few weeks. Check the newspaper for more information on that event. She also pointed out that she has “a lot of new things” and has re-arranged some.
“We still have a large variety of things and are fortunate to host many visitors,” she stated. Visitors include people from all over the nation and the world – tourists passing through, like a German woman who visited this past week. Cupp also said she has had a lot of families who work in the wind industry visit the museum recently.
Contact the museum at 235-8547 or the Chamber of Commerce at 235-5488 for more information or to schedule a special tour.
Sweetwater’s most recent historical acquirement is the WASP Museum, open 1-5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
The WASP (Women Air Service Pilots) Museum was built in 1929 and was originally the home of the Sweetwater Airport Hangar One. The museum is located near TSTC where the WASP trained during WorldWar II at Avenger Field. A few years ago the hangar was turned into a museum.
Inside see a lobby mural with photos of WASP training at Avenger Field in 1943 and 1944. There are also stand-up cutouts of some of the WASP ladies themselves.
In the main areas of the museum you will find a replica of a WASP sleeping bay, a recreation of the gate that stretched across the road where the guard shack stood at Avenger Field, a giant depiction of the WASP wings, sculptures and more.
The next big event at the WASP Museum will be the WASP Reunion Fly-In on Sept. 25. Plans are also in the works for some summer activities. See the Sweetwater Reporter for upcoming details. Call 235-0099 for more information on this museum.
Just down the road in Roscoe, you can experience some more local history at the Roscoe Museum. In recent years, local citizens have worked to bring the museum back to life and have acquired many new pieces and organized new exhibits. Museum organizer and volunteer, Ola Mae Bunnell, most recently turned some old film into photographs for display. During the July 4th parade, she had photos from the 1979 parade on display. She plans to do the same with a film from the 1980 flood.
One of its most known exhibit is an old jail cell.
To tour the Roscoe Museum, call Bunnell at 766-3743 for an appointment. The museum is also open during special Roscoe functions.
Colorado City is another area small town with a unique museum. Some of its most notable items on display include a prehistoric bison skeleton and bones from mammoths discovered in Mitchell County. They have recently refurbished the case for the mammoth bones and a local artist painted a mural to go with it.
In addition, the caboose, a favorite with the children, is being refurbished on the inside.
Director Shirley Scott pointed out that one of their most popular and newest exhibits is the Lone Wolf exhibit. It includes a life-like statue of Chief Lone Wolf, a beautifully painted mural of an Indian camp and a video that tells the story of his life.
There are also plans to create a sports exhibit.
Call Scott at the museum at 728-8285 for more information. They are open from 2-5 p.m. each day except Monday and located at Locust and Third Streets.
Snyder is home to the Scurry County Museum. According to its website, the permanent historical gallery includes a chronological look at Scurry County and West Texas. Exhibits in the permanent gallery include a stuffed buffalo, paintings and sculptures depicting life during the time the area was settled and items focusing on the cowboy or ranch hand way of life.
The museum also has exhibits that change every few months. Currently you can check out photography by Marge Dent, a long-time resident and retired teacher of Scurry County. She photographs windmills and landscapes. This exhibit is photography of windmills in Texas.
Going east, Abilene hosts a handful of museums, most of which are within walking distance from one another in the downtown area. First, the Grace Museum, located at 102 Cypress in the historic Grace hotel, houses an art museum, history museum and children’s museum. It is a four-story building with 55,000 square feet. The museum boasts many permanent collections and also has regular special exhibits, seminars and special events. Some of the children’s exhibits are interactive.
In addition, the Grace Museum has an education center located on the third floor that holds art classes, school visits, summer camps and special programs. It also has a teacher resource library and a dedicated distance-learning studio for internet-based programs, which is used by students all across Texas.
Hours for the museum are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $3 for children ages 4 to 12.
Admission is free on Thursdays from 5-8 p.m., which is the day the Center for Contemporary Arts hosts Art-walk on the second Thursday of each month from 5-8:30 p.m.
The Center for Contemporary Arts is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday and is located at 220 Cypress. It is home to more than 70 artists members and 10 working studios. There are four galleries that present more than 24 exhibits each year from the region, as well as national and international artists. Exhibits include a variety of media.
Artwalk is a popular Abilene activity that includes an evening of art an entertainment, and the other Abilene museums or similar centers are involved.
Admission is always free for the Center for Contemporary Arts.
Admission is also free at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, located at 102 Cedar. Its hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This center focuses on the achievements of children’s book illustrators. It designs educational programming involving the art and opens three new exhibits each year. In addition, the NCCIL offers free children’s art activities and family events regularly.
Also located in downtown Abilene is the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum at 1289 N. 2nd. This museum houses the 12 Armored Division’s historical collection and serves to educate people about World War II and its impact on our country. The museum also has educational programs for students and academic access to historical materials according to the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau. Admission is $3 for adults and $1 for children ages 7-12.
Frontier Texas, located at 625 North 1st in Abilene. This unique center allows visitors to relive the days of the Old West through state-of-the-art technology. You will see many life-sized holographic figures that tell you the story of the area’s history and a multimedia circular theatre that recreates life on the frontier where you will experience Indian attacks, buffalo stampedes, a saloon shoot-out and a thunderstorm.
Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and military, $5 for students and $4 for children ages 3-12.
You can also tour the Paramount Theatre in Abilene on weekdays from 1-5 p.m. The theater also hosts classic, art and special event films, concerts, live theatre and touring shows.
Finally, the ACU-Cockrell Art Gallery is also located downtown at 1133 N. 2nd and is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The gallery has a variety of exhibits and hosts performing arts and musical events.
Two more areas near Abilene where you can tour inside and out to learn the history of the area include Dyess Air Force Base and Buffalo Gap. Dyess is home to the 7th Bomb Wing with two B-1 Squadrons and the 317th Airlift Group with two C-130 Squadrons.
Visit the Dyess Visitor Center Memorial Park to learn the base history Monday through Fri-day from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The original settlement in Taylor County was Buffalo Gap. The Buffalo Gap Historic Village is located south of Abilene where the heritage of the Texas frontier is preserved. It includes a collection of Indian artifacts and frontier firearms, 21 buildings form the founding era, interactive audio tours, a gallery, guesthouse accommodations, the Texas Frontier Heritage Cultural Center and vintage baseball.
Call 572-3365 for the baseball schedule.
The historic village hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 on Sundays until Labor Day. It closes at 5 p.m. after Labor Day. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. There is an additional price for interactive tours and guidebooks.
If you’re into site seeing and have a desire to learn more about the area you live in, visiting the area’s museums and other interesting historical centers may be your ticket for something to break the summer monotony.
This is something the whole family can enjoy together.
With inexpensive ticket prices and some with free admission, this activity will not break the bank either.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 July 2008 )
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Every year we would all come together at my grandmother
McFaul-Coplen's home in Roscoe. She is no longer with us, but my family now
celebrates Thankgiving in my home. My parents, brothers, and their families all
bring a dish. I wanted to carry on what my grandmother started, and love and miss
all my family in Sweetwater and Roscoe. - Tracey Flake (Early, Texas)
Last year I had chosen my fall leaf garland with gold candles
however, at the last minute I had to redecorate with my snowman collection due to
the 5-6 inches of snow we accumulated! - Kandy Myers (Sweetwater, TX)
Every year we get together at Mom and Dad's to eat until we
can't breath. Then we proceed to decorate the tree. Everyone has their own ornament.
Once the tree is decorated, we all lay under the tree, turn the overhead light off
and say, "Ooooooooh, Aaaaaaaaah". - Mel King (Tuscola)
I don't know if y'all remember my parents, James and Sarah Rycroft, or not -- but years ago Daddy would secure the National Guard Armory in Sweetwater for Thanksgiving and would invite anyone in Sweetwater that didn't have family to be with to join us for dinner. We would cook all week long. We also delivered Thanksgiving dinner to people that were "home bound".Daddy would set up 3 or 4 televisions for the ball games. Folks would sit around and play domino. It always turned into quite a social event. Daddy couldn't stand the thought that anyone would be left alone on Thanksgiving. Mother and Daddy have been gone for some time now, but I'll bet there are folks that will remember this . - Sherron Foster (Paradise, TX) |
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