Heritage Museum to host opening day celebration May 13

The Heritage Museum’s annual opening day celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 13, on the grounds on U.S. 2 in Libby.

Here is the schedule of events.

Indoor Events

• Homemade quilts by the Kootenai Valley Quilt Guild will be on display in the museum’s tower gallery. The quilts will remain in the gallery through June 30. Some of the quilts will be offered for sale.
• At 10:30 a.m. Rich Aarstad, Montana State Archivist, will present “Jusqu’ Aubout” – Until the End: The 10th and 20th Engineers (Forestry) in France, 1917-1919. It tells the story of those men recruited into the first regiments ever created by the U.S. Military to specifically cut timber and mill lumber in France during World War I. Many of those who served were from western Montana and used their skills in harvesting timber to help win the war in Europe.
• At 11:30 a.m. Becky Timmons will give a presentation on “Birds That Mimic.”

Timmons began devouring books on birds about 10 years ago and is amazed at the intelligence of birds that ornithologists are just beginning to understand. One of the most fascinating studies of birds reveals the how and why birds mimic.

Mimicry requires vocal learning, vocal control, and muscle control, the ability to memorize and to repeatedly produce imitations, adjusting for producing the perfect mimic. Birds mimic to win mates, mark territories, steal food and sometimes just for the pure joy of hearing their own voices.

At 12:30 p.m., Dr. M. Lynn Barnes will present some of her findings after documenting some of the historic dress and textile collections as a volunteer at The Heritage Museum for the past four years. She has discovered wonderful and exclusive examples of historic costumes that tell more of the story of Libby. She will discuss the importance that changes in underpinnings had as they supported different fashion silhouettes from the 1890s to the 1930s. Her presentation includes developments in trade, technology and international discoveries that aided in fashion statement modifications. All the pieces that you will see are housed in The Heritage Museum’s historic dress collection. Some have very interesting stories that are exciting and some are still a mystery. In addition to the presentation, Dr. Barnes will have a gown on display near the entrance of the museum and will be available for questions and comments from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

“Minerals We Use Every Day: Mined from our National Forests” is on display inside the Museum this season. This traveling exhibit interprets the historical relationship between the mining industry and the Forest Service. Interpretive panels demonstrate how minerals used in everyday objects improve our quality of life, tell the history of natural resource management in America and explain the role that Forest Service scientists play in conservation.

The exhibit is on loan from The National Museum of Forest Service History, a non-profit organization in Missoula.

• The Museum’s Gift Shop will be open with most T-shirts reduced in price and most prints reduced by 50 percent.

Outdoor Events

• The Museum cookhouse will be open all day with grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and chili, chips, water/sodas and homemade desserts.
• Craft and direct sales vendors will be under the trees in the shade all day.
• The Museum grounds will contain multiple “working exhibits” throughout the day including a fur trade and muzzleloading exhibit.
• The 1932 Fire Truck will again offer rides.
• “Smokey Bear” from the Kootenai National Forest will make an appearance at noon.
• Live Band – “Big Sky Bow’s & Blowhards” will perform in the Dancehall at 1 p.m.

The Heritage Museum is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Visit the website at www.libbyheritagemuseum.org to learn more.

Support for the Museum comes from members, visitors and the local business community, not taxes. Past visitors tell us they are amazed by the quality and quantity of the collection that local community volunteers have preserved, interpreted and displayed to remember the past way of life in our area.

For more information, call the museum on 406-293-7521 and leave a message, or send an email to heritagemuseum@frontier.com and someone will get back to you.