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JUNE 15, 2009 -- WGVU-FM's Morning Show with
Shelley Irwin will air a special half-hour show about this year's
new exhibit at the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society Museum on
Friday, June 26 at 9:30 a.m. The show can be heard on radio at 88.5
and 95.3 FM or 1480 and 850 AM, or on-line at
www.WGVU.org.
Historical Society member Jon Helmrich, Irwin's
co-host for the station's monthly "View From The Dunes"
feature, will join Irwin in talks with exhibit curator and writer
Jim Schmiechen, noted West-Michigan historian Kit Lane and Society
President Harold Thieda, in an interview session recorded a few days
earlier at the Museum. The group will discuss the intricacies of
creating "Summertime... A Century of Leisure at the Lake
Michigan Shore", arguably the most ambitious exhibit in
recent memory, as well as its new exhibit-related book, an updated
and expanded edition of the Society's Big Pavilion book written by
Kit Lane and designed by Society member Ken Carls.
Helmrich, who created the monthly "View" feature
for The Morning Show in February of 2007, has since helped the show
enhance our community's recognition through interviews with key area
leaders ranging from city officials and association executives to
artists and gallery owners, entertainment venue operators,
preservationists, business owners and events coordinators.
Meanwhile, Irwin recently received a Merit Award for Community
Involvement from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for her
"End of Summer Tour" feature recorded in the
Saugatuck/Douglas area.
Since its recent season opening on Memorial Day
weekend, the Museum already has recorded more than 1500 visitors, an
80% increase over the same period last year. It has become one of
Michigan's best-known and most-visited small-town museums, annually
drawing nearly 10,000 visitors to its exhibits and more than 40,000
visitors to its outdoor garden and harbor-front walkway. Winner of a
dozen state awards in recent years, it was selected as one of only
four world-wide sites for the International Society of Architectural
Historians "Architectural History Tour" in October 2007.
Its 2009 exhibit combines digitized home movies
and period photography with artifacts and scale models to document
the origins and evolution of the lakeside recreation culture that
has made this community a summertime vacation destination with
growing nationwide attraction. Woven around a centerpiece
walk-through structure that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the
Big Pavilion's opening in 1909, the display features a video
documenting the rise and fall of the Pavilion and houses a detailed
model of that historic venue. Although conceived a year or more ago,
the new exhibit's theme resonates with the National Trust for
Historic Preservation's recent naming of Saugatuck-Douglas one of
it's "Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2009".
Founded in 1992, the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical
Society Museum occupies the historic Saugatuck Pump House at 735
Park Street, along the west shore of the Kalamazoo River at Mt.
Baldhead Park, a short walk north from the Saugatuck Chain Ferry
landing. The Museum is open Noon to 4pm daily from Memorial Day (May
24) through August, then Saturdays/Sundays in September and October.
Admission and parking are free. Tel: (269) 857-7900. See more
information about the Historical Society, its Museum and its Old
School House Discovery Center at
www.sdhistoricalsociety.org.
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