We hope this finds you healthy, safe and practicing good physical distancing. Minnesota’s “Stay At Home” executive order has been extended to May 4 so we have pivoted in our operations to accommodate it.
We continue to work remotely with Jess going into the Museum once per week to pick up mail, make bank deposits, process online orders and make sure Dorothy’s birds are fed. We’ve gone from 50°F to 28°F in a day or two so our feathered friends have been utilizing Birds’ Landing quite a bit the past couple of weeks.
We hope you enjoyed our latest newsletter, which was delivered digitally: “Winter” 2020 Newsletter (in color!). If you’re not on our email-ing list, you can sign up on our homepage or by letting us know directly. It’s likely we’ll be using this medium, along with our social media, to communicate updates and changes to Museum programming as we move forward.
Today, the Ely Chamber of Commerce announced that it is cancelling all events through July and this includes the annual Blueberry Arts Festival. This is a significant announcement that confirms all indications that physical distancing guidelines will continue into our summer season and affect Museum operations.
We are bracing for what will be a challenging year in the following ways:
- Continuing to investigate all funding options including disaster loans and grant programs
- Pausing all seasonal staff position hiring
- Limiting retail merchandise inventory purchases to best-sellers and online favorites
- Exploring how public visitation will look in light of physical distancing guidelines in a constantly changing situation
This, of course, is the short version of what we’re working on. We will be posting updates here, in our “News” section, and in our Programs & Events page for updates to our Museum calendar (hours will be here) for those interested.
If you haven’t taken a peek at our “Educate” page, please explore the varied additional and not-necessarily-Museumy resources for those working, teaching or restricted to their homes (and their caregivers) to continue to learn, explore and find joy in the world around us – virtually. This includes added imagery and document PDFs to compliment our downloadable Dorothy Molter Education Guide.
We said this before but it’s still true, please know we are thinking about you during this time and are here, muddling through this situation with you from afar. If you would like to connect with another human outside of your household, please feel free to contact Jess at jess@rootbeerlady.com or through our social media accounts at Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. We’ll continue to try sharing content that is uplifting, nostalgic and informative to help pass the time.
If you are in a position to help the Museum navigate the next few months with a financial contribution, we would be very grateful.
Take care and stay healthy.