Public outreach is very important for the museum. Each year
the museum’s education staff visits a variety of places throughout the entire
state of Iowa to promote the museum, its programs, its collections, and more.
A few weeks ago (August 3 and 4), West Branch celebrated
Hoover’s Hometown Days. This is an
annual celebration held at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The
weekend is filled with live entertainment, Hooverball competitions, birthday
cake, and over 70 exhibitors and vendors. And it’s not Hoover’s Hometown Days
without extreme heat! Well this year we were thrown for a loop; not only was it
extremely hot but we also got to experience 50+ miles an hour wind, lightning
strikes, and a torrential downpour. But
I am getting ahead of myself!
We had a booth at Hoover’s Hometown Days to promote and
spread the news about the museum’s upcoming programs and exhibits. Many
families stopped by our booth to tell us how much they enjoy visiting our
museum. Our favorite thing to hear! We were also able to inspire new families
to visit the museum. Throughout the morning the weather seemed to be getting
muggier and muggier, and the sky was starting to turn a dark shade of blue
(which is never a good sign). Moments later, park rangers began announcing the
upcoming forecast of 50 miles an hour wind and rain. We quickly began to pack
up all our promotional materials and replicas. We were told this would be a
quick storm, so we left everything inside our tent.
As soon as all our things were packed away, the rain
started. The closest shelter we could find was on the porch of the
Superintendent’s office. The wind and
rain really started to pick up. And with one huge gust of wind our tent along
with the OSA’s tent were picked up and blown several feet away. Since the storm
had no intention of stopping, all we could do was stand on the porch, soaking
wet, watching the horrible storm blow through Hoover’s Hometown Days.
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Luckily no one was hurt by this storm and
we will never
forget Hoover’s Hometown Days 2012!
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-Written by Assistant Education Coordinator Ashlee Gloede
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