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.

Governor LePage Announces Moment of Silence on Friday, Dec. 21 in Memory of the Victims in Newtown, Conn.

Augusta, Maine - Governor Paul R. LePage asks that the people of Maine observe a moment of silence on Friday, Dec. 21, at 9:30 a.m., in remembrance of the victims of the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

“Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut has declared Friday an official day of mourning in his state and has asked all governors to share in that observance by calling for a moment of silence at 9:30 that morning. We share in the grief of the Newtown community at this tragic loss of innocent life,” expressed Governor LePage.

In a letter to Governor LePage, Governor Malloy wrote, “In the last few days, the outpouring of love and compassion from your state and from around the world has been overwhelming, and the people of Connecticut will be forever grateful. Too often we focus on what divides us as people, instead of what binds us together as human beings.”

Malloy has also asked places of worship and government buildings in Connecticut to ring bells twenty-six times in honor of each life lost during the moment of silence.