Regular readers of our blog might be a little confused right now. I usually do the posts on Fridays. However, Warren is currently on his way to Fort Wayne, IN to watch two of his granddaughters play in a basketball tournament, and I am not available tomorrow, so we switched things up for this week.

That means I had one less day to come up with what I was going to write about. I say that partially to explain why this is probably going to be posted later in the day than you’re used to reading a Thursday blog!

The second most common comment I hear around here is, “I never knew this place existed!” (For those curious, the most common by far is, “It’s a small world!”) As the museum director, part of my job is to change that — but I need your help.

Unfortunately, our location in Altenburg, MO doesn’t attract many people who just happen to drive by — although that does happen occasionally when the river is low and Tower Rock draws more interest. So we need other forms of marketing and advertising. That’s where you come in!

Word of mouth is by far our most effective way of spreading the word. One of the first questions we usually ask visitors is, “Have you been here before?” I’ve been amazed at how often the answer is, “I have, but this time I brought a friend who’s never been here.” If this has been you, thank you! We love it when people share their passion for this museum with friends and family.

If you don’t live nearby, you can still help spread the word by sharing our posts — either by clicking the share button on Facebook or forwarding our emails to anyone you think might be interested. (Please note, I’m not condoning the mass forwarding of emails — no one likes inbox clutter!)

Recently, we sent a mailing to Lutheran schools within a 50-mile radius of Altenburg and St. Louis, promoting our tours. We love welcoming students, sharing our site, and inspiring excitement about the rich heritage we have here. I’m also working on another mailing to churches in the same area, hoping people will consider adding us to their summer plans.

If you’ve made it this far, I figure you must be pretty interested in what we do — and for that, I’m grateful. For a while now, I’ve been curious about who reads our blogs. If you have a minute, please follow this link and tell us a little about yourself.

If your church isn’t in our mailing area but you’d like to post a flyer, you can use the same form to let me know, and I’ll be happy to send you one.

Whether you’re sharing our story, forwarding a post, or planning a visit yourself, your support makes all the difference. Together, we can ensure no one has to say, “I never knew this place existed!”

Thank you for being part of our journey — we couldn’t do it without you.