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THE EARLY BIRD Weekend Edition of the Daily Advocate
Weekend edition
Breaking news at DarkeCountyMedia.com
Sunday, June 14, 2020 • $1
Garst Museum welcomes visitors again
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The Garst Museum will be reopening its doors to the public June 16. Annie Oakley masks, shown here, are available at the online museum store.
GREENVILLE — Garst Museum will open its doors to the public on June 16, 2020. The staff will be greeting you with smiling faces at the receptionist station located at the entrance to the Lowell Thomas Wing (the front entrance is temporarily closed). Well, you might not see the smilesbehind their required masks, but you will see the welcoming twinkle in their eyes! As the museum plans to reopen, its primary concern is for the safety of visitors and staff so new measures have been put in place to adhere to all Ohio Department of Health and CDC guidelines.
Masks are the in-thing. Everyone must wear a mask — staff, patrons, board members, volunteers, and even Annie Oakley if she were to appear! And, Annie would surely be wearing a stylish custom-designed Annie Oakley mask that is available exclusively at the Museum Store or through its website by visiting www.garstmuseum.org/product-page/annieoakley-face-mask If you have spent your Covid19 stay-at-home time doing historical research and have questions, you can get the answers now. Although the Research Center/Genealogy Library is
closed to the public due to its small physical space, the staff is eager to assist you. You can make requests by phone at 937-5485250 or by email at genealogy@ garstmuseum.org. Fees for copies may apply, but the research is a service to you. As for artifact or genealogy donations, docent-led and school tours, and public programs, they will have to wait until a future date is announced. Plan to visit Garst Museum as Ohio begins to open up its entertainment venues. While you See GARST | 3A
DC Foundation New mural at Bish Discovery Center provides meals to residents DARKE COUNTY — A grant from the Darke County Foundation supported the senior shut-in meal delivery program established in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The Foundation provided funds to prepare 2 days of meals that were delivered to 145 Darke County residents each day. The meal delivery program is one of many efforts the Darke County Foundation is supporting through its COVID-19 Relief Fund. Generous Darke County individuals and businesses have contributed to the fund that provides grants to local non-profit organizations offering food and assistance for basic living expenses. “The Darke County Foundation invited our community to join together to help our neighbors in need, and many donors responded with an outpouring of generosity,” said Christy Prakel, director of the Darke County Foundation. “Several donors included heartfelt notes about how they wanted to assist their community in a direct way,” added Prakel. “Every dollar we receive is being given to local groups that we personally contact to make sure they are fulfilling the greatest needs.” The meal delivery program is a joint effort of EUM Church and Eric Fee of Tribute Funeral Homes. For the past two months, the program has delivered hot meals five days a week to elderly residents throughout Darke County. That’s about 5,000 meals. Each day 11 volunteers meet at the restaurant preparing the food, pick up meals, and deliver them to homes. The meals are prepared by Montage Café, Merchant House, KFC, and Dairy King, with other local businesses and individuals pitching in to pay for the food. Daily administrative tasks are handled by Josh Welker, Outreach Coordinator at EUM Church, his wife, Caitie, and young daughters Lila and See MEALS | 2A
GREENVILLE — While the Bish Discovery Center has been closed to the public in efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19, progress inside the building is still being made. One new feature for the building is the addition of a mural on the north wall. Last year, the Rotary Club of Greenville awarded the Darke County Parks funds to complete this project and Naturalist staff went to work brainstorming a vision for the mural. After a couple of months of searching, artist and author April Newton was chosen to bring the vision to life. April grew up in New Madison and raised her five children there as well. She now resides in Columbus with her husband Tom and stepson Weston. April published and illustrated her first children’s book, “Popcorn-The Wondering Little Lamb” in November 2019. Her book is now available on
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See MURAL | 3A April Newton has completed the painting of a mural at Darke County Parks’ Bish Discovery Center.
State of the Heart Care hosting grief camp GREENVILLE — State of the Heart Care is preparing for its 20th annual grief camp, Camp Encourage, this summer. In the best interest and safety for our families, volunteers, and staff involved with camp, we are hosting Camp Encourage virtually this
year! Camp Encourage at Home will be July 10 to 12 and our camp staff are hard at work preparing activities for the campers, ensuring they still have a special camp experience even if it may be a little different this year. Camp Encourage accepts children ages 6 to
15 who have experienced the death of a loved one, no matter their affiliation with our hospice care. Camp Encourage at Home will be virtual for the families to attend. Families who register will receive a box of grief activities along with Camp Encourage
swag, treats, and goodies that we typically give to the campers through the weekend. Our camp director, Ashlee Slavin stated, “The idea behind the virtual camp is to create the camp See GRIEF | 2A
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