The True Book of Mostly Unrelated Stories

Past Meets Present by John Mooy

I’ve been spending a fair amount of time thinking about the museum that will occupy the Marcellus News Office in the days to come. I have always enjoyed museums as I also enjoy history. And as soon as today turns in to tomorrow that makes yesterday history. I have fond memories of trips to museums, often times with the goal of seeing something specific in mind from the past.

We have been fortunate to be close to Chicago and the museums there. The Museum of Natural History had friends and I during our high school years searching for a gorilla named Bushman. At that time and perhaps still it was categorized as the largest gorilla known to man. And on that same trip we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and wandered throughout the building taking in all the sights these buildings had to offer. Outside we were able to tour an old submarine I believe had been captured during World War II and we couldn’t comprehend being inside this cramped tubular structure underneath the surface of the ocean. Being a bit claustrophobic myself, I couldn’t wait to exit the submarine and we weren’t even under water.

When the King Tut exhibit came to Chicago its popularity so far surpassed what everyone thought it would be. It became a must see exhibit. Lines extended out from the museum and at one point I recall people telling stories indicating when they would be admitted into the museum based upon their position in the line. The first time I was there, a sign indicated if you were at this point you would most likely get in the next day. The next day. I just wasn’t that excited to wait in line that long. So, it was later that I made my entrance and what made up the exhibit was spectacular. The artifacts were displayed in ways that made you feel as if you were exploring the tombs of Egypt and came upon these beautiful treasures.

Museums give us the chance to literally stare at objects and imagine the role they played in history. If you go to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, you can stare at an endless array of objects:  a bat, a ball, a glove, uniforms, pictures, films, and the list goes on and on. All these bits of memorabilia are connected to our national pastime. With the objects being labeled you can spend hours there thinking about the greats of the game and why their names are synonymous with these objects. We know many of the stories, but it never seems to grow old in our reliving them.   

And now we will have our own museum in Marcellus at some point in the future. I’m not certain what the timeline to completion is but what a wonderful old building to have it in. In a sense, it will become the only museum in the world that cares about Marcellus.

What a worthwhile and meaningful endeavor.

This all makes me wonder what types of things we may someday find in the museum. I wonder if we’ll see the printer’s apron that was always on Don Moormann when he was in charge of the News Office. If he was working, which was most of the time, he always had that apron on, along with his pencil and small pocket size notebook. And then there was Art Whitenight, and Gene Stratton, who I recall wearing those fire helmets as they served so many years with the volunteer fire department.

I have no idea what the criteria will be to have items accepted for the museum, but what an enjoyable process it will be once the search for items is underway.

Excitement comes to Marcellus.

Have a great week Marcellus, you’re the best, be it past, present or future.