I really look forward to seeing the class field trips visit the San Lorenzo Valley Museum.  I have the opportunity to talk a bit with the parents as well as see the young students immersing themselves into each exhibit area.  These bright minds always have questions for our docents, who wear period costumes, and really get into making Indian hacky sacks, stenciled bookmarks, and moon winder toys to take back with them.  After the inside tour the students go outside and get into circles, kicking the hacky sacks back and forth while other students wind up and then spin out their moon winders.  This last week we have had three classes from Boulder Creek Elementary, who walk with their teachers and parents from their school past several  historic Victorian homes to the museum.  I feel a lot of pride that our town still has a lot of its history intact so the students can learn about their local history as they make the trek along those early streets to and from the museum.  What a wonderful field trip and what a lasting memory in the making.

I never know who my visitors to the San Lorenzo Valley Museum.  Sometimes it is members bringing visiting family or friends, sometimes it is visitors who used to live in the San Lorenzo Valley years ago, and sometimes it is Santa Cruz County residents exploring their county history by visiting many of our wonderful museums.  We love it when our visitors become members because they realize the importance of preserving and sharing local history.  Our newest members were once business owners in Boulder Creek, though before I moved here in 1990.  They were the owners of the Black Forest Bakery, then the Harvest Bakery - both in Boulder Creek.  I'm looking forward to talking with them about what the town and community was like when they were part of the downtown business community.  What a great addition to our oral histories collection. 

Attended the California Association of Museums last week (2/20-2/22) which was held in Santa Barbara.  Enjoyed visiting other small museums and seeing how they display their collections, what type of  fundraisers they have found to be successful in supporting their museum, and what type of staffing they utilize.  Went to 4 workshops per day plus mini-roundtables in between workshops discussing topics such as 101 Survival Ideas for Small Museums.  The other benefit of attending conferences such as this one is the networking one-on-one with peers around the state, sharing information about a variety of topics.  The conference always provides ideas to bring back to our own San Lorenzo Valley Museum for exhibits, fundraising, enhancing the communication with our community, and how to be better caretakers of our collections.  If anyone would like to hear more about this conference, stop by the SLV Museum on W/TH/F and let's talk.