Road Reports

New Mexico, Here We Come!

Yesterday the MoMS team worked at Office of Exhibit Central to get the latest copy of New Harmonies on the road! As I type this, the exhibit is traveling to its first stop in New Mexico.

We are looking forward to another exciting year for the New Harmonies exhibit, and can't wait to see what creative programming ideas, events, and local exhibitions will blossom out of this tour!

 

  
 
 Many thanks go out to our counterparts at OEC who helped us with some excellent exhibit refurb!

 -- Roxanne Berschler, SITES -- Washington, D.C.

On the Road Again (and We Love It)

One of the things I most appreciate about working with Museum on Main Street is the opportunity we have to visit so many interesting places in the U.S. and to meet wonderful people from every corner of the country. In response to a question posed by our Publications office earlier this week, my MoMS Smithsonian-based colleagues Carol Harsh and Terri Cobb and I sat down to figure out just how many miles we had logged traveling this year for MoMS.

Can I get a drum roll, please? After Carol visits Indian Springs, Georgia next week, the three of us will have traveled 67,299 miles for MoMS in 2009. And, we got the chance to visit fascinating places big and small like Alliance and Omaha in Nebraska; Kodiak, Alaska; Kirksville, Missouri; Renton, Washington; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Berkeley Springs, Grafton, and Petersburg in West Virginia; Kingsland and Carrollton in Georgia; Hagatna and Asan in Guam; Sidney, Ohio; Sycamore and Chicago in Illinois; Austin, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Lindsborg, Kansas; Clinton, Mississippi; Okmulgee, Oklahoma; Enderlin and Bismarck in North Dakota; Ocean City, Maryland; and Hanley Falls, Minnesota. We can't even begin to imagine how many additional miles our Federation of State Humanities Council colleagues, our state humanities council partners, and the exhibitions themselves traveled as part of this project. My math-challenged brain can't handle it. But, one thing is sure, we have the enormous privilege of serving and experiencing communities everywhere.

We're looking forward to visiting your state and meeting you during our travels in 2010.

-- Robbie Davis, MoMS/SITES, Washington, DC

Will Cook for Adventure...

A fun story came in from Arden Williams, Program Manager for the Georgia Humanities Council. It turns out that an enthusiasm for American foodways is not the only upshot from the Key Ingredients exhibit:

Danny Williams, Arden’s son, discovered a link to his latest career at the grand opening of the Key Ingredients exhibit in Vidalia, Georgia. Following an introduction to Vidalia’s site director Dusty Gres and her husband, Danny was asked to hop onboard a tugboat and join the Biblia staff down in Savannah! Biblia Inc. provides a variety of tugboat services, and was in the market to hire a first-rate chef for the  traveling crew aboard its vessels. Danny has been able to put his cooking skills to good use as he sails from port to port – in fact, the crew has been complaining of weight gain due to Danny’s fabulous meals.

The tugboat is currently nearing Baldhead Island, North Carolina, which was once crawling with pirates. Let’s hope Danny doesn’t get any wise ideas as he helps out with the dredging equipment! 

As Arden has said, this story showcases the power of food. The art of cooking can take us on powerful journeys. A familiar scent wafting from the kitchen can transport us back in time – to memories of childhood, and talent in the kitchen can lead us to our future adventures…aboard a tugboat for instance! 

Below is a photo of Danny's barge, and of Danny and Arden helping out with the Key Ingredients exhibit.   

                               

                               

Do you have any memories of food to share? For example -  stories about a recipe that was brought by your ancestors from the Old World, or a vacation made fonder by a special meal? Please feel free to comment on this blog post and tell us about your “food stories” -- the American experience is what MoMS is all about! Thanks MoMS community, we can’t wait to read your contributions – all are welcome!

Thanks to Arden and Danny Williams for this great tale!

 -- Roxanne Berschler, SITES, Washington D.C.