Many Activities at the Silver City Museum for the First Weekend in March

The Silver City Museum will offer programs on the first Friday and Saturday in March for the whole community. Friday March 2, 2-5 pm, there will be a Women's History Month Presentation at the Museum Annex called Women in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa: A Reading and a Film with Alexandra Todd. First Friday at the museum will continue with Dr. Seuss-themed children's activities from 4-7 pm, and the museum and all its exhibits will be open until 7 pm that evening. A State Symbol T-shirt Making craft class for children will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 10 am at the Museum Annex at 302 West Broadway. At 12:15 pm on March 3, the Fiddling Friends and the Fiddle Club will present a free concert in the Museum Courtyard if weather permits, and otherwise in the Museum's back gallery. At 2 pm that day, at the Annex, a staged play reading of Thousand Miles by Victoria Tester will be performed.

The first of five presentations in the Women Speaking Series 2012, Alexandra Todd will read a short piece from her writings and talk about her experiences working with a group of Women in Dakar, Senegal.  In November 2001, two months after 9/11, Alexandra flew to Senegal, a predominantly Muslim country, to teach a women's studies course during Ramadan. As part of the presentation, Alexandra will show a film made by Africa's leading director, Ousmane Sembene and lead a discussion about the unique and universal experiences of women today, here and there. Alexandra Todd is Professor Emerita of Suffolk University in Boston where she chaired the sociology department and women's studies. She moved to Silver City four years ago with her husband Stephen Fox.

Dr. Seuss is the theme for March's First Friday, because March 2 is the birthday of Theodore Geisel AKA Dr. Seuss. The museum is collaborating with the Public Library to present Dr. Seuss Craft & Fun Day from 4-7 pm at the museum. Come to the museum and make a Cat in the Hat hat, a Grinch mask or Cat in the Hat finger puppets. Every wanted to build your own Dr. Seuss world? The museum will also have magnetic building blocks in interesting shapes so you can build your own Seussian world. The museum and all its exhibits will be open until 7 pm on First Fridays through the spring and summer, offering family activities. Please visit www.silvercitymuseum.org to stay apprised of the latest activities!

The State Symbol T-shirt Making class will give children an opportunity to learn about the New Mexico state bird, mammal and vegetable while using their hands and minds to create a wearable craft. This class is the fourth in a series of State Symbol Craft Classes that the Museum is presenting for children throughout the coming year, in conjunction with its New Mexico Statehood Centennial exhibits. For the Craft Class series, there will be a $5 fee per class, or $15 for 4 classes, and Museum Society members can pay $4 per class or $12 for 4 classes. Scholarship options are available - please mention during registration if interested. The classes are geared towards elementary school-aged children, and parent/guardian attendance is required. Register in advance with Curator of Education Jessa Tumposky at 538-5921 or jessa@silvercitymuseum.org">jessa@silvercitymuseum.org. There will be a limit of 20 children per class, and walk-ins will be welcomed if the class still has space. The classes will continue to be presented on the first Saturdays of the month at 10 am through September 2012, and the spring/summer schedule of classes will be released shortly.

The Fiddling Friends and the Fiddle Club (six of the older fiddlers) have been working hard all year learning dance music from many different places, including New Mexico, Louisiana, Appalachia, and many other parts of the world including, Ireland, France, Hungary, and other areas of Eastern Europe. Ranging in age from 5-15, they learn by ear, as well as with written music. They are students of Jeanie McLerie and Ken Keppeler of Bayou Seco. They are often accompanied by some of their parents as well as by Bayou Seco. This will be their last performance until next September. Recently the Fiddle Club played a Mardi Gras Contradance in La Mesilla. They played energetically for the dancers for three hours without tiring. For more information call Jeanie McLerie 534-0298.

Thousand Miles is the eighth play in Victoria Tester's fifteen-act New Mexico Ghost Play Cycle, which is being performed monthly as a staged reading series at the Museum Annex in celebration of the New Mexico State Centennial. Thousand Miles is inspired by the true story of five Chiricahua Apache women who are sold into slavery after chief Victorio's band's defeat by Mexican soldiers at Tres Castillos. The five women escape captivity and journey over a thousand miles home, with only one blanket and one knife.
Five Women is played by Jessa Tumposky. Shadows is played by CarolBeth Elliott. "Ten Thousand Miles," a traditional Scottish song, is sung a capella by Alyssia Goss.
Admission is free for this performance, which is recommended for mature audiences only. Space is limited to forty seats and there will be no late seating. Tester continues to cast actors, musicians and singers for the Ghost Cycle, which will run through October 2012. For more information, or to interview, please contact the playwright through her website at www.nmghostplaycycle.com.

The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching and interpreting the region's unique history. For more information about the Museum's programming, please contact staff at (575) 538-5921 or info@silvercitymuseum.org">info@silvercitymuseum.org, and visit the Museum's website at www.silvercitymuseum.org .