Press Release:  Event Date August 10-11, 2018

 For further information contact Mary Chrastil, 260-982-0672 or nmhistory@cinergymetro.net

 Special Funfest Events at the Center for History      

There’s lots to see and do during Funfest at the North Manchester Center for History.  The Center is open to the public with free admission on Friday, August 10, from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday, August 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The Center is located at 122 E. Main Street.  Free admission for the month of August is sponsored by Manchester University.

 The Center for History has a continuously updated exhibit that highlights new museum acquisitions.  The items highlighted now are the Eleanor Schmedel Himebaugh Storybook Doll Collection.  Many of us remember these tiny dolls and their distinctive polka-dot boxes.

 Visitors can enjoy the Center’s air conditioning while taking a refreshing and entertaining pause from the many Funfest offerings.  The Center is planning a continuous showing of the documentary it commissioned for the Indiana Bicentennial, A Sense of Place.  The movie explores how North Manchester has been perceived in videos from a 1938 movie through a 1985 ABC Good Morning America series.  The movie tells North Manchester’s story and lets today’s town residents give their views about North Manchester’s strengths and challenges. 

 The Center will repeat its popular history scavenger hunts for children and adults.  Students and their families have a lot of fun completing them together.  The games are updated every year to account for new exhibits, and because so many people enjoy them.

 During Funfest, visitors can also see the travelling exhibit from the Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Through the Mapmaker’s Eye.  The exhibit is drawn from IHS's collection of about 1,700 maps and atlases of Indiana and the Midwest dating from the 16th century to the present. It examines ways people have used maps through the years: as documentation, as tools, as political images and as art.  The exhibit will be in town for a limited time, from August 7 through September 14. 

 The Thomas Marshall House will also be open to the public with free admission on Saturday, August 11 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Located on Market Street next to the public library, the Thomas Marshall House is the birthplace of former Indiana Governor and Vice President of the United States Thomas R. Marshall and has been restored to its original 1854 condition.  Docents will be available to provide tours and answer questions about Thomas Marshall and his family.