Maine Museums Pledge Funds to Newtown, Conn. Children’s Museum

SEARSPORT, ME, July15, 2013….On Thursday, August 1, Penobscot Marine Museum will join  five  museums across Maine in donating a portion of each admission fee paid that day to help support the construction of a children’s museum in Newtown, Conn., the city that was the site of a mass shooting in December.   The participating Maine museums are the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, Maine Historical Society in Portland,  in Bath, the Maine State Museum in Augusta and Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

The effort to build a children’s museum in Newtown predated the December tragedy, but after that day the effort gained even greater momentum because many in the community realized there was a much greater need than before.
"The need for the children's museum, which everyone thought was a great idea before, became almost a necessity," said Kristin Chiriatti, the museum's president, in an interview for an article in The Huffington Post on January 29 about the museum. "People understood that the children will need a place to heal. We have so many children who are scared to go to school now and may have lifelong poor associations with learning."

After the December shooting, three museums in Grand Rapids, Michigan, chose to contribute a portion of one day’s admission fees toward helping fund the Newtown children’s museum, which has been named the “Everwonder Museum.” The Association of Children’s Museums picked up the movement and launched a national effort, and Maine Maritime Museum contacted museums in Maine.  “We whole-heartedly support this effort spear-headed by Maine Maritime Museum,” explains Liz Lodge.

Because Maine museums enjoy greater visitation during the summer months, August 1 was selected as the day the museums would share a portion of their admission fees with the Newtown museum.