Museum to Host Annual Fall Family Day To-Go
Old Independence Regional Museum will be hosting its annual Fall Family Day curbside this year. For the Fall Family Day To-Go, the museum invites families to drive by the facility at 9th & Vine Streets on Saturday, October 24 from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. to collect craft kits to take home.
“The museum continues to operate with reduced hours and limited audiences, but we still want to offer families the opportunity to spend time together crafting and learning,” stated Humanities Educator Terri Crawford. In keeping with tradition, OIRM will supply free materials for a variety of crafts. However, instead of working these crafts with staff and volunteers on site, visitors can collect their craft kits to work together at home.
This year’s theme is “Celebrating 200 Years of Independence County” with all activities focused on the county’s bicentennial anniversary. Museum kits will include supplies for several different crafts including corn husk brooms, whirligigs, boats, paper bison, and a map of the original Independence County. These crafts are designed to help children learn about the early settlement days of this area. Instructions for each craft will be included, as well as links for more information.
Craft kits to-go will be given free one each per child while supplies last. The museum is located at 380 S. 9th Street, between Boswell and Vine in Batesville, AR.
For more information, call (870) 793-2121 or email oirm.educator@gmail.com. Information can also be found at www.oirm.org or on Facebook and Instagram.
Old Independence serves a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820s Arkansas territory.
This humanities program is made possible by local support from Independence County and the City of Batesville, as well as by Challenge Grant Endowment funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew serves on the Arkansas Travel Council Board of Directors, is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current publicity chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.