December 2, 2010
Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park will celebrate the season with a display of holiday trees, holiday concerts, photographs with Santa Claus and expanded hours this year. Visitors are encouraged to visit the museum and view the trees and other exhibits during the holiday time period. A holiday open house will be held on Saturday, Dec. 11, from 4 - 6:30 p.m.
The trees on display have been decorated by organizations of the surrounding area. Participants include the Logan area Public Library, Logan area Girl Scouts of the Black Diamond Council based in Charleston, Logan Emergency Ambulance Service Authority, Omar Elementary School’s After School Program, and the American Cancer Society (ACS) with its annual memory tree. The ACS has ornaments available for visitors to label with the name of a friend or family member to hang on the trees. Other tree exhibit ornaments were donated by the Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies at the Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College and a special selection of ornaments created by participants in the Museum’s Saturday morning “Kids Arts and Crafts” classes. The tree exhibit will remain on display through Sunday, Dec. 26.
On Dec. 11, the museum will offer Logan native Cora Hairston in concert singing traditional classics and modern songs of the season. The concert will feature such songs as The First Noel, What Child is This, White Christmas, Winter Wonderland and The Christmas Song, also known as Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, among others.
Hairston attended Aracoma School and upon graduation from Logan High School, moved to Chicago. She attended a performance of the Redd Foxx Review and was “discovered” while singing along with the audience. Hairston was then invited to perform an opening act with Foxx. She returned to Logan after two years. Hairston is a member and pianist of the First Baptist Church of Omar and has performed locally at numerous church and regional events. In addition, she has appeared at several Aunt Jennie Festivals, an annual Labor Day weekend concert sponsored by Museum in the Park. In the course of her career, Hairston has written more than 25 songs.
Museum visitors also will have an opportunity to have their photographs taken with Santa from 5 to 5:45 p.m.
Rounding out the day’s activities, members of the Appalachian Children’s Chorus (ACC) of Southern West Virginia will perform. Under the direction of Krista Brown-Trogdon, the ACC of Southern West Virginia is a music education program available to boys and girls in grades three through eight.
Brown-Trogdon lives in Logan and is a seasoned performer in the area. She has worked with the Aracoma Story, Inc., serves as choir director at Claypool United Methodist Church and regularly performs for organizations such as the Logan Chamber of Commerce and International Industries.
Museum in the Park will expand its hours as part of Chief Logan State Park’s annual “Christmas in the Park” light festival. Operating hours for the holiday season are Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Sunday from 1 - 8 p.m., through Sunday, Dec. 26. Light refreshments will be served Friday through Sunday from 4 p.m. until closing. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Normal operating hours will resume Wednesday, Dec. 29.
For more information about the holiday open house, contact Elizabeth Williams, site manager at the Museum in the Park, at (304) 792-7229.
Museum in the Park is a regional cultural center showcasing the best in West Virginia history and the arts. It features changing exhibits and displays of artwork and historical items from the collections of the West Virginia State Museum and the State Archives. One area of the museum is dedicated to local and regional history. It is operated and maintained by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and is located four miles north of Logan on West Virginia Route 10 at Chief Logan State Park. The regular museum operating hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Sunday from 1 - 6 p.m.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, cabinet secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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