Public Invited To “Be Our Guest” At Morris Area Museums May 15

Morristown, NJ, April 15, 2011 – Nine historic sites and museums throughout Morris County are inviting the public to “Be Our Guest” on Sunday, May 15, from noon to 5 p.m. in celebration of National Tourism Week. Participating institutions will open their doors and waive their usual admission fees during those hours, although guests are encouraged to contribute a non-perishable food item for the Interfaith Food Pantry or a cash donation to the Front Line Fund benefiting Morris County military families in lieu of the normal admission fee. The event is sponsored by the Morris County Alliance for Tourism. For more information, see www.morristourism.org or call 973-631-5151.

Sites participating in the event:

Acorn Hall, 68 Morris Avenue, Morristown, www.acornhall.org. Headquarters of the Morris County Historical Society and a Victorian Italianate mansion decorated largely with furnishings from the two families who lived there between 1853 and 1971; it also has changing exhibits and a garden with period features.

Community Children’s Museum, 77 East Blackwell Street, Dover, www.communitychildrensmuseum.org A hands-on children’s museum for children 10 and younger focusing on art, science, and world cultures.

Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, 73 Kahdena Road, Morristown, www.morrisparks.net. A restored working dairy cattle farm portraying life in the early 20th century through costumed living history, farming, and domestic skills demonstrations, and tours of the Foster family’s circa 1852 Gothic Revival house.

Historic Speedwell, 333 Speedwell Avenue, Morristown, www.morrisparks.net The “Birthplace of the Telegraph,” telling the story of the Vail family and their role in the early days of the Industrial Revolution and in the development of the telegraph, through hands-on exhibits, guided tours, and special event weekends.

Macculloch Hall Historical Museum and Gardens, 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown, www.maccullochhall.org. An elegant historic house and decorative arts museum comprising ten period rooms and four exhibit galleries, two of which are devoted to the largest collection of cartoonist Thomas Nast’s works in the country.

Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, www.morrismuseum.org. A museum dedicated to art, science, theater, and history, and home to the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of mechanical musical instruments and automata.

Morristown National Historical Park/Washington’s Headquarters, 30 Washington Place, Morristown, www.nps.gov/morr A national park preserving sites of the Continental Army’s encampment and the headquarters of General George Washington during the winters of 1777 and 1779–80.

Museum of Early Trades & Crafts, 9 Main Street, Madison, www.metc.org. A museum exploring 18th- and 19th-century American history, with a focus on New Jersey, drawing on its collection of over 8,000 hand tools and their products to interpret the lives and technologies of men and women who lived and worked before the rise of large-scale industrialization in this country.

The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, 2352 Route 10-West, Morris Plains, www.stickleymuseum.org. A National Historic Landmark, this 1911 log house is the former home of noted turn-of-the-century designer Gustav Stickley, a major proponent of the American Arts and Crafts movement in home building and furnishing.

A free shuttle provided by the Morris County Park Commission will offer transportation between participating sites. A schedule of shuttle times and locations will be available on the day of the event.

The Morris County Alliance for Tourism supports the Morris County Tourism Bureau in positioning the region as a premier tourism destination through a collaboration of interested stakeholders.

The Interfaith Food Pantry, located in Morristown, serves Morris County by distributing supplemental and/or emergency food to eligible Morris County residents in need, providing hands-on opportunities for neighbors to help neighbors, and educating the public about the issues of hunger in our area. More information is available at www.mcifp.org.

United Way and its partners established the Front Line Fund to serve as a local mechanism to meet the growing needs of local military families. The Fund supports two key resources in Morris County: trained specialists at 2-1-1 call centers in New Jersey and a designated case management professional to provide individual family support. In addition, resources are available to meet a wide range of needs as they arise, from counseling services to emergency child care. More information is available at www.uwmorris.org/give/frontlinefund.php.

Contact Information

Deidre Schunk

Information Manager

Morris County Tourism Bureau

Contact via E-mail