Museum delivers family-friendly Fourth of July in downtown Fort Smith
by July 4, 2009 4:31 pm 156 views
Ronnie Vannostrand, a student at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, and the staff of the Fort Smith Museum of History on Saturday (July 4) conducted a patriotic craft-making event and short history of the U.S. flag.
Children and their families made patriotic crafts and enjoyed refreshments and a free trolley ride. The event was held at the museum, located at 320 Rogers Ave. in downtown Fort Smith next to the Fort Smith National Historic Site.
Vannostrand, a full-time UAFS student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history, served with the U.S. Army in South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Changes to the U.S. flag and the history of the 37-star flag flying over National Historic Site were part of Vannostrand’s presentation. Vannostrand and his son, Dylan, also showed the gathered families the proper way to fold a flag.
Leisa Gramlich, executive director of Fort Smith Museum of History, has said the 98-year-old organization — located at 320 Rogers Ave. in downtown Fort Smith — has launched an effort to raise as much as $10 million for implementation of a completed redesign plan of the first and second floor exhibits and for a renovation of the third and fourth floor collection storage area, offices, laboratory and meeting space.
The museum has one full-time employee, six part-time workers, two regular volunteers and an intern from UAFS. This group saw 12,590 visitors in fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) 2007 and 14,982 in fiscal year 2008. Gramlich said an early look at the numbers suggest the visitor count will be “up slightly” over FY 2008.
