Director Ed Morris and Assistant Director Jennifer Smart are working through a long check list of items and events necessary to prepare the Wake Forest Historical Museum for the mid-April arrival of a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America.”
The first of the docent training sessions was held Saturday with a large crowd in the Nancy Cullum Harris Auditorium to watch a film about the exhibit and hear more about the plans.
Morris did say that the date he’s looking forward to is May 31, the last day of the free exhibit. The museum has had to raise money to meet several requirements, including tinting the windows in the main lobby to prevent fading on the exhibit, and Morris said he was happy to announce that donations for the expenses of the exhibit will probably be more than $40,000 with a little left over after the bills are paid.
The docents are needed because the Smithsonian requires at least two trained people be at the exhibit during all the hours the museum is open. There will be two more one-hour training sessions, one at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 31, and one at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 1. Morris plans another session for late April but no date has been set.
The museum will be open to all visitors without charge from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each weekday during the exhibit, which runs from April 16 through May 31, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Visitors can also roam through the museum’s standing exhibits, which include a large collection of memorabilia from Wake Forest College sports. The museum and exhibit will be closed Memorial Day.
More docents are still needed. Call Beverly Whisnant at 919-556-1168, bevwhiz@gmail.com, or Smart at 919-556-2911, smartjl@wfu.edu to volunteer.
