Celebration continues with more great exhibits to come
CHERI MCGUIRK MUSEUM DIRECTOR

We're 30! We celebrated with friends on Saturday, April 12 and had a great time.

Thanks to First Sate Bank for sponsoring the cake and punch, Mike and Ana Rodriguez for the hot dogs, and Todd and Tracy Henry for the plates and cups. Now that the party is over, we're planning for the next 30 years.

Dolores and Sarah Rowland were outstanding volunteers. They assisted with everything from set up to clean up. Brenda Anderson was a super Gift Shop salesperson. A big thank you to those who brought gifts of craft supplies or money - all are needed and greatly appreciated.

Christina Sabrsula captured all the fun with a great set of photos. They are all on the bulletin board in the Museum's lobby. Come take a look.

The Gift Shop now has TY Beanie Babies 2.0. You register them on-line at the TY website. There you can write a chapter in the Big Book of Beanies, play a community game or a private game that only your Beanie 2.0 and you can play and build a Beanie family. Start your adventure today - come by the Museum and purchase Fluffball the Hamster, Pica the Chihuahua and Jumps the Frog. They're real cute, soft and one is never enough.

The Cisneros Galaxy is open. You can look up and find the Big Dipper, the Dragon or four other constellations. You can watch the phases of the moon and watch the solar system rotate around the sun. The planetarium game will tell you the weight, size, temperature and distance of each planet in our solar system. There are a lot of things to see and do in the Cisneros Galaxy now through June.

The El Campo Casual Quilters will again display their beautiful quilts in the Museum during May and June. We'll hang quilts all over the Museum. If last year's exhibit is any indication, this year's exhibit will take your breath away.

Animal Camp for children ages 4-11 will be held each Wednesday in June starting June 4 and ending Wednesday, July 2. We'll learn about a different animal each session with crafts, activity sheets, stories and show-n-tell. This will be our fifth year for Animal Camp. It's grown each year so be sure to register early. The cost of Animal Camp for a non-Museum member is $25 and $20 for a Museum member. You can also pay by the session: $6 for non-members and $5 for members.

New in the children's area is Anderson Fields, a magnetic table sponsored by Rick and Brenda Anderson of Texas Aqua Turf. Children can explore the properties of magnets by playing hockey with magnets or they can see how high the magnets will stack until they fall over or build a long snake with the round magnets.

The children's area will have a couple of new additions soon: Stockton Theater and the Imagination Station. John and Susan Stockton sponsored a puppet theater so children will have a place to put on puppet shows. Bennie Reck has volunteered to build the theater. The Imagination Station is a four-sided creative art center. Children can fill in their family tree on the chalk board, draw pictures on the white board, create a scene with sea life, dinosaurs or wild animal magnets or draw a picture with dot marker to take home.

A special thank you to Morgan and Emmy Lou Russell for bringing in a snake skin for the Texas Exhibit.

In the first three months of this year we've had 360 visitors. Some of them from Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Missouri and Mississippi. There are tours set for the Markum school kids, fourth graders from Eagle Lake and the 14 classes of El Campo kindergartners as well as two groups from Houston.

You can hold your next birthday party at the Museum. There are three party packages to choose from starting at $75 for non-Museum members or $60 for a Museum members. Call the Museum at 543-6885 for more information.

Why not become a Museum member and help support the upcoming exhibits and the additions to the children's area or increase your membership level.

An individual membership is $20, a family membership is $30, $50 for a business or a patron membership for $100.

We're growing and changing. We're not just a polar bear. Join us and be a part of the Museum family.

Gaze up at the stars, ooh and ahh over the beautiful quilts, attend Animal Camp, blow out birthday candles and play in Anderson Fields - there's always something happening and changing at the El Campo Museum - come see us.