History

Updated: January 26, 2023

Museum Offers Access Program For Low-Income Guests

The National Museum of the Great Lakes (NMGL) has joined Museums for All – a program providing free and reduced admission to those receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits. With the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, museum visitors receive free admission to its 11,000-square-foot interior museum and $3.00 admission inclusive of the museum ships.

“Museums for All is a national, branded access program that encourages individuals of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits,” shared Ellen Kennedy, NMGL’s education and visitor experience director. “Standard admission to our museum ranges from $8.00 to $17.00. We recognize this can be a barrier for many low-income families and want to eliminate that barrier.”

By participating in Museums for All, the National Museum of the Great Lakes can offer access to a greater number of individuals. It is part of the museum’s broad commitment to seek, include and welcome all audiences through its doors. The museum already offers various free programs as well as educational field trip grants.

Museums for All is a program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), administered by the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). More than 850 institutions participate in the initiative, including art museums, children’s museums, science centers, botanical gardens, zoos, history museums and more. Participating museums are located nationwide, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Great Lakes Book Club Selections Announced

The National Museum of the Great Lakes is kicking off the 2023 programming season with its virtual lunchtime Great Lakes Book Club, featuring three books meant to provide new insights into our nation’s inland seas. The museum is encouraging interested participants to grab their own lunch and join others online for three monthly guided discussions held on Tuesdays at noon on January 31, February 28 and March 28.

“We created this book club last year as a great way to get people to engage and learn more about the Great Lakes,” shared Ellen Kennedy, education and visitor experience director at the National Museum of the Great Lakes. “This year, we choose three different books that span from nonfiction to fiction and cover a wide range of historical and contemporary topics about the Great Lakes. So, whether you’re a boat nerd, history buff or nature-lover, there is a little something for everyone.”

The featured books for this year include: Floating Palaces of the Great Lakes by Joel Stone (January), The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan (February) and Sisters of Sweetwater Fury by Kinley Bryan (March).

On Tuesday, January 31, author Joel Stone will join in on the discussion to answer questions and provide insight into his book’s topic.

Registration to participate in the Great Lakes Book Club is free but required. Participants can choose to purchase the book(s) at the museum store by visiting the museum in person or by shopping online at nmglstore.org. For more information on book club events or to register to participate, visit nmgl.org/events.

Trivia Night Set At Monclova Community Center

The Monclova Historical Foundation and Community Center will host Trivia Night on Friday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m.

Start assembling your teams of eight or less. There will be a 50/50 raffle, door prizes and cash prizes for the winning team.

Please RSVP by email to MonclovaCommunityCenter@gmail.com or call (419) 861-1336 by Monday, February 13.

Admission is $10.00 per person. Snacks will be provided for free, or you can order PizzAroma Pizza. The event is for adults 21 and over, and it is BYOB.

The Monclova Community Center is located at 8115 Monclova Rd. An elevator is located at the west entrance to the building.

Book Features Historical Images Of Waterville

The Waterville Historical Society has received another shipment of the book Images of America Waterville, written by Phyllis Witzler and John and Verna Rose, which includes early pictures of Waterville. The book may be acquired with a $20.00 donation at Waterville Hardware, 28 N. Third St., or at the Wakeman Archives at 401 Farnsworth Rd.

The Wakeman Archives are now open to the public every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Walking Tour Provides Fresh View Of Fort Meigs

Northwest Ohio is dotted with fascinating and historic spaces; some immense and famous, some hidden in plain sight.

Towering on the banks of the Maumee River in Perrysburg, Fort Meigs is one of the most extensive wooden-walled fortifications in North America – it exemplifies the big and celebrated with its unique size, design and history. Now, visitors can take a self-guided GPS audio tour and discover Fort Meigs in a new and exciting way: through the eyes of the soldiers who fought there over 200 years ago. As they are guided on a walk that explores the entire fort, tour users will be fascinated by listening to breathtaking stories told by voice actors reading from historical journals. They’ll learn how the fort was built, how it was defended and how the men lived and died there during the War of 1812.

The smartphone tour is guided by Tedd Long, a local history author, storyteller and curator of www.HolyToledoHistory.com.

The 90-minute walking tour covers 17 stops inside the 10-acre fort. The smartphone tour is available for $11.99 at the Fort Meigs museum store, or it can be purchased online at www.holytoledohistory.com/tours. The tour’s immersive audio narration plays automatically at precisely the right time and place using the user’s smartphone GPS and the VoiceMap mobile app, which also works offline.

I Hear Tell Too Available For Purchase

The Whitehouse Historical Society recently published a second volume of village stories, titled I Hear Tell Too.

Books are available at the Whitehouse village office and at Whitehouse Motors on Providence Street in Whitehouse.