Kids experience winter inside and outside the Floyd County Museum

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County Historical Museum Director Mary Ann Townsend said the theme for Saturday’s kids day turned out to be appropriate.

“It was a snow theme,” Townsend said. “So it worked out pretty good with what was going on outside.”

About a dozen kids in grades 1-3 made snowmen — indoor, crafty snowmen — and talked about the snow outside, as several inches had been dumped on Charles City Friday night.

The museum hosts children’s days on the first Saturday of the month through the fall and winter. The museum has been hosting regular children’s days since 2003. Crafts, storytelling, scavenger hunts, games and snacks, among other things, are usually on the agenda.

The goal is to get kids interested in the museum, have fun, and maybe learn a few things about Charles City’s history.

On Saturday, the children also visited an exhibit at the museum that showed a child’s bedroom from the past, and compared it to what a child’s bedroom looks like today. They did the same thing with a kitchen and mercantile store from the past.

February’s children’s day will probably have a Valentine Day theme, according to Townsend. The final kids day of the season will be in March, when kids who have attended the program for three years will receive a graduation certificate.

Anyone interested in participating can call 228-1099 to register a child in grades 1-3. Kids days are free for museum members and $2 for non-members.

Townsend said that 2019 was a good year for the museum.

“We had a very good year last year,” Townsend said. She said the museum is currently updating its heating system.

The March kids day will likely be the last under the direction of Townsend, who said she will be retiring soon. A new director will be taking over in April.

Townsend became director of the Floyd County Museum in 2001, after starting volunteering there in 1979. She moved from volunteer to employee in 1985 and held a number of positions before being named director.

Townsend, who grew up in Forest City and moved to Charles City in 1966, became a volunteer just as the museum was moving from the former Legel Drug Store building in downtown Charles City to its current location in the former Salsbury Laboratories building at 500 Gilbert St.

The incoming director will volunteer at the museum in February and will work together with Townsend in March before assuming the new job.