By: Deborah Johnson Wood
On July 31, the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum will celebrate ten years of having a permanent home at 11 Sheldon Avenue NE. Now a fixture on the city’s family entertainment scene, the museum’s Bigonzo Birthday Bash will spill outside its two-story walls onto the sidewalks along Sheldon Avenue and into Veteran’s Park next door.
During the day, admission to the museum will be just $1. Then, at 5 PM, the museum and festivities are free until the party ends at 8 PM.
“Outside we’ll have face painting, music, and dancing, and we'll have fun give-aways to the first 1,000 children,” says Lindsey Zabor, museum spokesperson. “We’ll have cupcakes, water bottles with the museum logo, and Q'doba has donated chips and queso dip.”
The GRCM began as the brainchild of four local women—Georgia Woodrick Gietzen, Alyce Greeson, Carla Morris, and Aleicia Woodrick—who saw a need for children to be “at play.” In 1993, the museum “without walls” opened at the Woodland Shopping Center.
Since opening at its current location, the museum has served over 1.5 million children and their families, hosted traveling exhibits, awarded 37,000 scholarships, and launched a local children’s TV program, Come On Over!
Volunteers have given 73,000 hours, and the museum has popped over 9 million bubbles, used over 300 gallons of glue, 20,000 markers, 50,000 balloons, and hosted over 180,000 children on field trips.
Source: Lindsey Zabor, Grand Rapids Children’s Museum
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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