SCENE: Give it a dye

COMMUNITY HUB

Calling all ladies. Who would like to up their blackjack game? Learn Shibori tie-dye? Or just have a chance to meet new people?

WB MUSEUM HOLDS MONTHLY LADIES NIGHTS

by ELIZABETH WHITE photos by ARIS HARDING

Then free up your calendars the fourth Thursday of the month for Ladies Night at Wrightsville Beach Museum of History.

The get-togethers take place at the museum’s recently renovated 1924 Bordeaux Cottage, one of the last surviving examples of original Wrightsville Beach architecture. The building opened to the public this year.

“Community has always been an important part of who the museum is, but after 2020, we knew we wanted to take a more active role in helping folks come together,” says newly hired Executive Director CHRISTINE DIVOKY.

The Ladies Nights, which started in April, evolved out of trying to find ways to connect the museum even more so with the local community – especially during the pandemic.

“The past year was really difficult for us,” says JOETTA COBB, museum board president. “We wanted to find ways to encourage a whole new audience to visit the museum.”

Cobb, referred to as a “super-human ball of energy and passion,” says the new goal is to reinvent the museum. She also feels strongly about wanting people to see it as a place beyond just a building that houses artifacts.

“We are building a new sense of community around the museum,” Cobb says. “For example, we want people who can’t make it during the day to feel there is a reason to come in the evening.”

After having many discussions about ways to make that happen, the Ladies Night idea was born.

“These evenings are a chance for women to come together to laugh, to support, to learn something new,” Divoky says. “They come with friends or to make new ones.”

A different theme is designated each month, and each event has not looked the same.

SANDI KEITH, a local blackjack expert, taught the ins and outs of the game from beginners to experienced players at a recent gathering. At another recent event, participants learned to stamp market bags using recyclable, sustainable materials.

The next Ladies Night is a windchime-making class slated for September. The class will be taught by LORI ROSBRUGH, a board member who will share her expertise.

Women come from all over the community, and most classes have about twenty-five attendees.

There is a fee, which varies with the evening’s project, to cover costs only.

“It’s important to us to keep this event as low-cost as possible,” Divoky says. “We want to make it as easy for women to come out and enjoy these nights.”

A popular trend is mothers and daughters coming together.

“It is great to see ladies coming not just from the beach who are visiting,” Cobb says, “but (also) great crafters from our area, who are bonding and taking home something special they have made together.” W

Info: wbmuseumofhistory.com