Museum Blog

Welcome to A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village Blog. We will feature museum stories from our staff and our visitors on this page. Do you have a story about your last visit to our museum or do you have a picture of your family playing in our exhibits? Please email your digital photos and stories to info@acgilbert.org.

July 31, 2008 -- "We can come back again and again..."

Here's a report from new member Leslie Davis of Salem:

"July 26 was our first time at A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village and Logan loved it, especially the big slide. He also had fun in the grocery store shopping like mommy and ringing up the sales. The time passed so quickly and before you knew it we were there for 3 hours. We bought a membership so we can come back again and again."

July 28, 2008 -- Taking a Bite out of Salem

Bubble Girl headed down to Riverfront Park to sample the Bite of Salem. Did you see her there?

Here she is:

July 25, 2008 -- 3, 2, 1 ... Blast off!

Summer campers complete their week in the "This is Rocket Science" camp by building their own rockets and seeing how far they go, with the guidance of teacher Corey, of course. There's still time to sign up for weekly camps, so check out the descriptions here!

July 24, 2008 -- Who's that Girl?

Bubble Girl, the museum's new mascot, made her first appearance at the Salem Art Fair last weekend. Who is Bubble Girl? She's our larger-than-life character that shares our message that "playing is essential to learning." To hear where she'll be next, or to invite her to your special event, send an email to promotions@acgilbert.org. Bubble Girl's next appearance will be at Silly Summer Days: Pizza Day, July 25, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village.

From left: Bubble Girl poses with exchange students and then makes a visit at story time.

From left: Playing is essential to learning! says Bubble Girl. Here she is with Executive Director Pam.

July 23, 2008

This just in from visitor Angel Honts:

"My daughter still loves to visit Discovery Village when we come back to Salem. One of the must-see places is the big chair on the front of the Gilbert House! Thanks ACGDV for always providing new adventures!"

Thanks for the great picture!

July 3, 2008

Josh Thomas of Silverton is the winner of the 2007 Best Lemonade Stand in America contest. He stopped by the first meeting of the BU$INESS KIDS program to share his story and inspire the youth who are starting summer businesses using seed money from A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village.

Josh's Top Ten Tips on How to Make Your Business a Success!

1. Have Fun with your business!
2. Figure out what you are going to sell.
3. After you figure out the main thing you're going to sell, try to expand it to more than just that one item.
4. Be sure you're making money with what you're selling.
5. Try to barter with local businesses while you're starting your business. Take advantage of being a kid!
6. Make your stand look good. Make it fun and attractive!
7. Give back to the community that is supporting you! Set out a tip jar or something with all proceeds going to the local charity.
8. Do some advertising. Set some signs around town or come up with your own creative way of advertising.
9. Sell your product! Talk people into buying your product and collect their money.
10. And remember, you don't have to do all the work by yourself!

Bio: Josh Thomas of Silverton is the winner of the 2007 Best Lemonade Stand in America contest. Each day we'll be sharing one of Josh's top ten tips for a successful business. Look for "Josh's Old Fashioned Lemonade Stand" at the end of his driveway during Homer Davenport Days (August 1-3) and the Silverton Fine Arts Festival (August 16-17) this summer.

June 24, 2008

The BU$INE$$ KIDS are in their first week of running their summer businesses, thanks to $20 in startup money provided by A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village. While the goal is to double their money and return it to the museum by summer's end for the chance to win some cool prizes, such as a free weekly ice cream cone from Cold Stone Creamery for a full year, the kids will learn a lot more than how to make a profit. They're discovering the challenges of maintaining business partnerships and marketing their products. At the same time, they're creating their own success stories. Bridger Lanning, 11, has already reported his first customer! Keep reading the blog for more updates from the BU$INE$$ KIDS.

June 23, 2008

Hip, hip, hooray! It's the first day of summer camps!

Overheard as a young child stands in front of the "funny mirrors" and watches his body stretch: Look, Mom! I'm a teenager! I'm a teenager!

June 20, 2008

A note from Stephanie, Promotions Director: There's an open breezeway between my second-floor office and the Dinostories exhibit on the first floor of the Parrish House, so my day is often punctuated by squeals and growls as kids discover this part of the museum. Just the other day, I was stopped mid-phonecall by an expressive child exclaiming to her father, "Dad! This is SOOOO Dino-licious! This is off the HOOK, Dad! This is OFF-THE-HOOK!" It was absolutely hilarious!

June 19, 2008 - Introducing BU$INE$$ KIDS

Meet the Business Kids, participants in our new summer program who received $20 today from A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village in order to start a business or service. They'll get down to business June 21, and until then they're putting together their budgets and marketing plans. Check back on the blog for updates throughout the summer.

from left: Brandon, Adam, Bridger, Alyssa

from left: Carson, Jonathan, Hunter


from left: Cassidy, Haleigh, Elyssa

from left: Lauren, Logan, Mari, Nicholas

June 17, 2008

Enjoy these pictures sent in by museum member Kelly Ritter.

June 11, 2008

As of today, the Erector Set tower in A.C.'s Backyard is no longer the tallest in the world. See below for an article in the New York Times about artist Chris Burden who has assembled a 65-foot Erector Set skyscraper. But ours is still the only tower in the world that you can climb in!

The work, called “What My Dad Gave Me” — a 65-foot Erector Set skyscraper, assembled over the last year by Mr. Burden and a team of assistants near Los Angeles — was hoisted into place early Saturday. It will officially open Wednesday as part of Rockefeller Center’s program of monumental outdoor exhibitions presented by the Public Art Fund and Tishman Speyer, which controls the center.

June 3, 2008

Thank you to all the volunteers and attendees that made the 13th Annual Garden Tour a great success.
Here are a few glimpses into this year's gardens:

This year's Plant Sale brought together nurseries all over the Mid-Willamette Valley at Mission Mill Museum.
Proceeds from the sale benefit educational programs at A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village.

April 23, 2008

Girl Scout Advice:

Each Wednesday, the Girl Scouts march past my office to gather in one of our meeting rooms at the Village. Today, the girls provided me with some useful tips on math, measurement, and local entertainment. And I'm passing it along to you:

· There are three centimeters (approximately) in one inch.
· If you can't remember what 9 times 4 is, use the "finger trick" to figure out your 9 multiplication tables.
· Magic is the best horse (actually a Pegasus/Unicorn combo) in Salem's Riverfront Carousel. If Magic is not available, G.J. or Bucky come highly recommended.

From Stephanie, Promotions Director

April 22, 2008

From the Director:

I was scheduling a field trip today as our education department staff were out. I was talking to a teacher in Lincoln City and she interrupted me to say to her class: "Boys and girls, I am talking to someone from the Gilbert House about scheduling a field trip." Their reply: "Take as long as you want." It's great to know that children over on the coast know and appreciate our museum.

April 21, 2008

Overheard at the Village in reference to the giant rocking chair on the Gilbert House's porch:

"Mom, did this used to be a real chair?"

March 20, 2008

This month the first step was taken to open the Union Street Railroad Bridge to pedestrian traffic with the ceremonial pulling of the first railroad spike from the unused historic steel bridge.

Connecting Wallace Marine and Riverfront Parks, the bridge is planned to open later this year. Salem's Mayor Janet Taylor and key members from Friends of Two Bridges, including Virginia Green, and other groups were there to participate in the ceremony.

The opening of the bridge will be one more reason to visit Riverfront Park and A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village, and another educational opportunity for families to explore. While you're keeping your eye out for changes to the bridge, make sure you stop by our River Room to learn more about the Willamette River, its history and ecology, and the many ways it impacts our community.

You can learn more about the project here.

February 18, 2008

Here are some photos from Sizzling Science Day today. If you have stories or photos to send us, please share!

Volunteer demonstrates static electricity. Children lift a grown man using a pulley. Child examines petrified wood.

Rocket launching!

Free western hemlock. Static electricity demonstration. Mentos/Pop explosion. Rockhounding Fool presentation.

January 30, 2008

Hi there,
My family visited the Gilbert Discovery Village last week and had so much fun. Thank you so much! I didn't see a picture of the neat slide on your website, so if you need one, I took one that looks pretty good, all kids want to see a giant slide!

Thanks again!
Alee Richards

January 27, 2008

Over the weekend, our Visitor Services Manager caught Panda from "A Child's Trip to China" having a party all by himself. We're open today, so stop by and join Panda for tea so that he doesn't have to eat alone!

January 25, 2008

Here's a great report from the Namba family, winners of tickets to Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience:

"I did almost forget to thank you and tell you what a marvelous time we had at the event. Ticket pickup was smooth as I had my son take his ID just in case and let him get the tickets.

My daughter, Natalie, just loved the parts with the baby T-Rex. Especially the intro with the giant ominous shadow of the T-Rex that actually turns out to be just the shadow of the baby.

We took Natalies grandmother since Lisa was out of town and she was equally amazed by the show. All in all, it was a big hit with all of us and very impressive Animatronics on a large scale to say the least.

There were no flash photos allowed even though I saw people taking them. I did get a couple shots without flash. Not the best but this one will give you an idea of the scale of things.

Thanks again for all your friendly help and for a great show. We were just tickled to have won such a nice and totally unexpected prize."

January 22, 2008

If you were one of the nearly 1,000 people who celebrated New Year's Eve Family Fun with us, you'll recognize some of these fun events from our Swashbucklin' Pirate Parrrty. From 6-9 p.m., we had live music, magic shows, pirate crafts, free photos with Stalnaker's Photo Studio, and of course, a countdown at "midnight" (EST). Join us next year when we celebrate Oregon's 150th anniversary with 150 action-packed ways to ring in the new year.

Click here to view "Welcome to A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village".