A Cure for the Summertime Blues

by Don Pendergraft, Director of Regional Museums

Welcome back! This is our first issue of the Gateway magazine, post–COVID-19, and I invite you to peruse it and plan your next trip to the museum with confidence. The previous year was one of health challenges, but we continue to follow the 3-Ws—wait six feet, wash your hands, wear face-coverings—and we have changed the way we receive guests; however, our mission remains the same. Our services to you are held to the highest levels, and we promise not to disappoint as we move into the future with all we learned during the pandemic.

A silver lining to the coronavirus storm clouds is on the horizon. We endured. We learned new ways to reach schools, lifelong learners, and visitors in immediate Albemarle communities, as well as interested people around the world. We entered the virtual world using basic computer tools and the internet we had on hand in the museum; we evolved to a more professional position using state money and Friends of the Museum of the Albemarle funding to accentuate our presentations. And, we have had overwhelming success with our work, which can be accessed on the Museum of the Albemarle’s Facebook and website pages and on our YouTube channel. Please check out those locations and look for any programs you may have missed. I would like to recommend one recent presentation, Pig-Out on the Porch, hosted by Lori Meads and featuring Vivian Howard—it’s an entertaining rabble into the Tar Heel traditions of processing, preserving, and serving pork. The presentation was broadcast from the High on the Hog exhibit gallery with an array of sausage grinders and lard paddles positioned behind Lori as an appropriate backdrop. Vivian returns in person to be part of a drive-thru book signing in May. She will be signing her newest book, This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking on May 22 on the museum grounds. Kudos to the museum staff for bringing this acclaimed author, PBS North Carolina star, and proprietor of Chef and the Farmer—virtually and physically—into the museum.

We invite you to check-out the museum’s videos, 24/7 on our YouTube channel.

Thank you for your continued support and to museum staff members for their care in managing the museum through one of our most difficult periods in recent times.

I’ll see you in the museum the remedy for summertime blues.