We want to give you a little update today on some things have that been going on here at the museum as we have persevered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like so many other businesses similar to us, we have had to close our doors as the world has dealt with this disease, and without the help of others, we would have really suffered. As it is, because of the continued support we have received from our patrons and donors, we are in a state of “getting by”. We are so grateful for the continued support from our friends all over the country and all over the world. We are blessed.
Our governing body has also chosen to take advantage of some programs that have been made available as part of our Federal government’s efforts to support small businesses such as ours. First of all, we were able to get some funding that was part of the PPP, a program to help fund the salaries of employees during the crisis. This program was especially helpful in enabling us to continue keeping our director, Carla Jordan, on our staff. We can now say that we did not have to dismiss any of our employees during these tough times.
We also were recipients of a grant from the Missouri Humanities Council. That council received Federal money from the CARES Act passed by Congress earlier this year. Our board treasurer, Carol Wunderlich, completed a grant request, and we did receive some much-needed funding from the Missouri Humanities Council. A video has now been produced which tells the story about how this funding has assisted many museums and historical societies around the state of Missouri. Included in this video are appearances made by Carla and our own Gerard Fiehler. These two represented us well, and we also thank the MO Humanities Council for including us in this video. We encourage you to view it. Carla and Gerard show up toward the end.
We now have a magnificent exhibit of quilts in our gallery from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky, so we once again have more people entering our doors.
Following that, we will have our annual Christmas Tree Exhibit from November 14 through January 17 which is always popular. We like to think that we are through the worst of times and move on to an exciting future.
Speaking of our future, our building expansion has undergone several weeks of a construction lull. However, as I sit here and write in our research library, the sounds of construction have returned outside. I will leave you with a gallery of a few photos. Before long, we should be seeing some wood framework visible for the upper floor.
