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Welcome everyone to Buying 
Local. 

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I'm your host, Mike Nelson from 
5 Towers Media, joined today by 

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Bethany Muska Lawrence from 
World Awareness Children's 

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Museum. 
Bethany, thank you for joining 

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us. 
Thank you so much for having me.

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I'm very happy to be here. 
Yeah, yeah. 

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And you know, I got to ask. 
I I bet you've been on other 

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podcasts. 
Yeah, I've done a lot of these 

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kinds of things before, but I've
got lots of great information to

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share and I'm happy to talk to 
anybody who will listen. 

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Very nice. 
Yeah. 

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Awesome. 
You know, it's it's very 

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exciting to see all the local 
podcasts that are popping up. 

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I think we've written articles 
about it before. 

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Like I think everybody should 
have a podcast. 

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Whether you only have three 
listeners doesn't matter. 

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Like everybody should have one. 
It's just such, such a great 

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format for media and to be able 
to create content. 

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So it's, it's very exciting. 
So, so Bethany, just in case. 

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And I, I find it very hard to 
believe that people at this 

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point would not know about the 
World Awareness Children's 

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Museum. 
You guys have been around. 

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God, I don't even know how long 
it's been. 

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I mean, I, I can remember when 
Jackie Tuba had like the set up 

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back in Bruce Moskowitz building
on Glenn St. probably 20 years 

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ago, I think maybe 15 before you
guys moved over to, to Warren 

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Street. 
But just in case for the two 

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people on the planet that don't 
know who you guys are, what you 

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guys do, maybe give us a little 
rundown about it. 

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Right. 
So we have actually been in 

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business for 31 years. 
Really that long? 

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31 years. 
Yeah, we got our official 

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charter from New York State 
Department of Education in 1995.

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So yeah, we've been all over 
Glens Falls and we have our our 

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home here that we've been in on 
Warren St. since we've owned the

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building since about 2008. 
We've been here for that long. 

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But everything that we do at the
World Awareness Children's 

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Museum comes back to our mission
of bringing our diverse world to

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children. 
That means teaching kids about 

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international cultures and the 
different cultures around the 

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United States through 
imaginative play, through 

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workshops and art making. 
And we do outreach programs in 

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schools all about diversity and 
cultural awareness and cultural 

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understanding. 
But that's what we do here at 

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the museum as we have a hands on
space for kids to explore. 

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So you can come in during our 
regular open hours and you pay a

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little bit of admission and you 
get to explore just like any 

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other children's museum. 
It's all hands on. 

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But our mission is rooted in 
cultural understanding and art 

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making, and what we do revolves 
around art and culture. 

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Whereas a lot of children's 
museums are more focused on the 

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general STEM part of of 
childhood development. 

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And you love STEM, but our focus
is more on arts and culture. 

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And arts and culture, yeah. 
And it's, I mean, I, you know, 

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I've got 4 kids and all of them 
have been to the museum on more 

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than a few occasions, whether 
through preschool and 

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kindergarten. 
And what what are the average 

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age ranges do you think for most
of the kids that you have come 

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through the museum? 
So we have stuff for kids ages 0

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to 12 and even older. 
If you know you're coming with 

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little kids and some older 
siblings, they'll find something

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to enjoy here, even if they're a
little bit older. 

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In fact, we just last week 
hosted the delegation from Saga 

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City. 
The Glens Falls Sister City 

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group came from Japan to Glens 
Falls to spend a week learning 

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about American culture. 
And they did stop by here at the

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Children's Museum. 
And it was middle schoolers and 

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high schoolers, so ages 13 to 
17. 

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And they played and had a grand 
time. 

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They had a just a great time 
playing and they were older. 

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So even if your kids are a 
little bit older, just stop in. 

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You can come in one during one 
of our free days and, you know, 

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check it out. 
Low risk. 

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Yeah, low risk. 
Yeah, exactly. 

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And, and I should have asked 
Bethany, how long have you been 

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with the museum? 
Well, I've been working here 

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since March of 2018, and I've 
been the executive direct 

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executive director since 
November 2019. 

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So just before the pandemic, I 
was kind of thrown to the fire, 

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like every. 
Yeah, I bet that was a a wild 

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ride. 
I know it was very interesting 

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for everybody going through that
from a business standpoint. 

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What? 
How did you? 

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Are you from the Glens Falls 
area? 

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Are you from around here? 
No, I'm not. 

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So I'm from northern New Jersey,
about 30 minutes outside of New 

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York City, and I have a little 
bit of random experience in this

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area, though I spent my summers 
growing up at a sleepaway summer

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camp in Karim, but I had no 
plans to really move here until 

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my husband. 
He got a a job at Adirondack 

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Studios and so we moved up here 
from where we were living in 

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Nashville. 
Very cool. 

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Oh, you came from Nashville, 
huh? 

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Yeah, we were living in 
Nashville. 

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I was teaching elementary school
and my husband was working. 

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And, you know, he and I are both
not from the Southeast, he's 

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from Pennsylvania. 
But we both had, you know, it 

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was we had the option to move up
here. 

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And I love this area just for my
summers being here as a kid, but

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I'm so glad that we moved. 
I really have come to love this 

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area and especially Glens Falls.
It's just such a great city to 

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be part of. 
Yeah, yeah, it's, I mean, we 

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talk about it all the time up 
with guests on the show about 

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the, the community that we have 
here. 

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You know, whether it's Glens 
Falls, Queensbury, Saratoga, 

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like essentially that whole 
Warren, Washington, Saratoga 

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County footprint just has such a
great closely knit community and

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so much going on. 
And I mean, you know, this is 

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where people come for vacations,
right? 

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It's it's pretty beautiful here 
and awesome. 

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And so so you took the job in 
2018 and then I assume the 

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opportunity came available for 
you to become the executive 

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director. 
So you you jumped at the chance.

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Yes, I was very nervous and I 
remember thinking in November 

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2019, my husband and I had just 
gotten married, come back from 

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our honeymoon and the director 
at the time said, I didn't want 

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to stress you out while you 
were, you know, planning your 

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wedding and all of that. 
But I'm retiring and I'm 

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recommending you for the 
position of executive director. 

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And so I kind of, you know, I 
was very excited to do it, very 

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nervous. 
And I, like I said, I remember 

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thinking, OK, 2019 was a great 
year, 2020, I'll just kind of be

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along for the ride. 
I'll see how everything goes. 

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And of course, that was very 
different than what I expected. 

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And I had to do lots of 
different things to keep the 

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museum going during the 
pandemic. 

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But you know, it was trial by 
fire. 

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Came out stronger on the other 
side though. 

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Yeah, it definitely it, it 
presented a lot of business 

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challenges and and that's. 
And opportunities. 

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And opportunities. 
Are just opportunities to do 

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this. 
Absolutely, absolutely. 

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It's and you know what's 
interesting, I had never really 

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thought about it until I had 
Phil from lyric on the podcast. 

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I want to say it was last maybe 
about a year ago. 

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And you know, we're just having 
this conversation. 

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And one thing that I had never 
considered, which is kind of 

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funny, but he really brought to 
light was the fact that just 

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because you're run running a, a 
nonprofit or not-for-profit 

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organization, it still is a 
business and you still have all 

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the challenges that any 
entrepreneur or small business 

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owner has. 
And probably even more so, 

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right, because you're, I don't 
know if you guys get into like, 

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you know, grants and, you know, 
getting money sometimes from the

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state or from the federal 
government, but that's a whole 

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set of problems. 
And so I say that because I'm 

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just curious, you know, as you 
stepped into that executive 

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role, like from a running the 
business standpoint, what kind 

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of challenges do you see with 
the museum? 

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Well, our challenges in 2019 and
2020 were very different than 

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they are now. 
Obviously 2020 was just get 

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through it, you know, see how we
can survive and if we can thrive

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a little bit then we'll take it,
you know. 

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But currently our challenges are
just like any other business, 

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right. 
We need money to to pay our 

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staff and to keep our business 
going. 

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How we get that money is 
obviously different from a for 

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profit institution. 
So as a not-for-profit, we rely 

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heavily on the generosity of our
community and on the people who 

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love what we do and love our 
museum. 

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So a lot of our income comes 
from individual donors. 

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Obviously the museum admission 
that people pay when they come 

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in. 
We try to keep it as low as 

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possible, but it does help us 
keep things afloat and keep our 

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lights on. 
But to that point, you know, we 

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have our general admission which
is $7.00 per person. 

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Kids under 1 year old are always
free. 

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So you know, they can come in 
with their grown-ups and they're

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free because they're not really 
doing much yet. 

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Then we offer monthly free days,
which are generally support, 

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generously supported by 
Stewart's and Stewart's holiday 

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match. 
So if you supported Stewart's 

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holiday match, a portion of that
is supporting the Children's 

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Museum and the greater 
community. 

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So thanks if you donated to 
them, but we have those monthly 

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free days where anybody can come
in once a month on that 

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designated day totally for free.
And if they like it, hopefully 

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they'll come back and support us
in different ways. 

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We also offer low cost admission
for people who are on SNAP 

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benefits or have an EBT card or 
use WIC. 

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That we try to support the 
community as much as the 

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community supports us by 
offering really free and low 

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cost opportunities for people 
who need them. 

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So we get admission, you know, 
we sell some things in our gift 

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shop and that helps support us. 
But really our biggest 

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supporters are the individual 
donors. 

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We do, you know, seek out grants
and they're mostly local grants.

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We're not really at this point 
approaching state and federal 

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there. 
You know, the federal grants of 

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this time. 
If you talk to any nonprofit, 

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you'll probably hear that 
currently federal grants are 

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really tricky just because of 
the current administration's 

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priorities, though they're not 
really something that we're 

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applying for at this time. 
So we focus mainly on local 

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grants, local support from 
businesses and individuals. 

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Awesome. 
And I, you know, I'm, I'm 

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curious as, as you're talking, I
was thinking about the fact that

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you're a school teacher in 
Tennessee and now you're running

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a business. 
What was that? 

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Did you ever think that that's 
what you'd be doing at some 

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point was was running a 
business? 

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I always thought I'd be in 
leadership in some way. 

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I just have that I, I'm, I like 
being a leader. 

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I was the old, well, I am still 
the oldest of seven children in 

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my family. 
I have 6 younger siblings. 

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And so I've always been in that 
leadership position by default. 

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And also being a teacher is a 
leadership position. 

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I was a teacher for elementary 
and at the time in Nashville 

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when I was teaching preschool 
and I always talk about how my 

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management skills and my 
management like procedures and, 

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and the way that I approach 
people is very similar to how 

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you approach children. 
You know, giving everybody a 

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voice, letting them have their 
opinion and their thoughts and 

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giving them space to express 
them. 

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But then also managing people is
just like many managing 

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children. 
So it's, it doesn't, there's not

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much different. 
Of course I'm now looking at a 

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lot of the financial side as 
well, but managing people, 

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managing children is very 
similar. 

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Yeah, yeah. 
You know, it's, it's interesting

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because I have a very new, not, 
I shouldn't say new found, but 

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my respect for teachers has 
grown exponentially in the last 

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year. 
We're homeschooling our 

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kindergartner and I'm just like,
I don't know how people do this 

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with 20 kids in the class or 
whatever it is. 

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I'm like I'm I'm struggling with
just one so. 

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Yeah, it's a really hard job, 
and I'm so grateful to all the 

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00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:42,240
teachers that are still in it. 
It's plus jobs sometimes, and I 

229
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,680
think that people underestimate 
how much patience you need when 

230
00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:49,680
you're teaching. 
You know, I remember this is 

231
00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:52,760
just a little funny aside, but I
would sometimes go into my 

232
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,720
closet and just silently scream 
in my closet and then, you know,

233
00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:58,840
take a couple deep breaths and 
walk back out. 

234
00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,080
And then I was fine, you know, 
But it takes a lot of work to 

235
00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,680
manage kids into the be a 
teacher. 

236
00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:09,240
But, you know, so I don't do 
much teaching currently, but I 

237
00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,000
do get to teach the kids 
downstairs every once in a 

238
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,840
while. 
And I still love to do it. 

239
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,440
I'm just grateful that now I'm 
managing adults. 

240
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:23,640
And I guess on some level, maybe
maybe it's easier, I don't know,

241
00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:28,200
but I'm not sure about that. 
But so I know we're going to 

242
00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,280
talk about the kind of the 
things you have coming up at the

243
00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,520
museum. 
But before we do that, I wanted 

244
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:37,360
to backtrack a little bit and, 
you know, just talk about the, 

245
00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:41,440
the ongoing programs that you 
have at the at the museum 

246
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,840
itself, right. 
So obviously you kind of have 

247
00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,560
the, the open hours where anyone
can just come in and, and use 

248
00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:49,840
the facilities and explore and 
play. 

249
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,760
And you know, I think it's 
probably been about a year since

250
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:57,080
I've been there last. 
However, I like I said earlier, 

251
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,960
my all my kids loved it, right, 
Like it did the ability to go in

252
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,760
the different, I don't want to 
say displays, but the little 

253
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,800
different areas that you have 
around the museum are just are 

254
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,040
so much fun and and they all 
loved it. 

255
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,840
You work a lot with schools like
you have like, I mean, I know 

256
00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,560
that I've been there on more 
than a few occasions through my 

257
00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,920
kids schools. 
Is that is that you do a lot of 

258
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,040
that kind of stuff? 
Yes, we do. 

259
00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,120
So we send programs into 
schools, like into your kids 

260
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,400
classroom, for instance, and 
whatever our educators goes 

261
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,120
there and, and we'll teach on a 
specific topic. 

262
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,120
And so we do that very often. 
And then we also have schools 

263
00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,160
come to us on field trip and 
those are really fun as well. 

264
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:39,640
So I think that's what you're 
talking about. 

265
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,200
But especially May and June, 
once the school year is almost 

266
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,160
over and the teachers are like 
looking for any opportunity to 

267
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,080
get their class out of the 
school and into a different 

268
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,320
location, that's when a lot of 
them come to us and we love it. 

269
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,600
Yeah. 
And do you deal with pretty much

270
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,320
all the local schools in the 
area? 

271
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,920
We do, yeah. 
Most of the local schools 

272
00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,160
participate in our programs in 
one way or another. 

273
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,440
And like I said, we love our 
school programs. 

274
00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,400
We love partnering with schools 
and creating relationships with 

275
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,640
those school teachers. 
And often we get them back year 

276
00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,640
after year after year because it
is such a valuable experience 

277
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,520
for the kids. 
Yeah, yeah. 

278
00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,040
It's like I said, I mean, it was
just fun even for the adults, 

279
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,000
you know, because of course we 
go there with with especially 

280
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,440
like the preschool age kids, 
right, your or your pre-K kids 

281
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:31,160
where you're going there with 
your children. 

282
00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,400
They're all doing their things 
and you end up getting getting 

283
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:39,400
roped into playing with sushi or
corn or whatever, whatever's in 

284
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,760
the displays. 
So the little camping on. 

285
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,000
It gives us adults a chance to 
use our imagination. 

286
00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,320
Yeah, yeah, it's a lot of fun. 
So let's talk about what's 

287
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:50,560
coming up. 
So I know. 

288
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,120
Tell me about the Gallo that's 
coming up. 

289
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:53,680
That's every year. 
Yeah. 

290
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,120
So we're in our 36th year of 
this particular fundraiser. 

291
00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,800
It's the international Cuisine 
Dinner and auction. 

292
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,520
And this year it's held at the 
Queensbury Hotel on May 17th and

293
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,320
it's that's a Sunday, so May 
17th, 4:30 to 8:00 PM at the 

294
00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:10,920
Queensbury Hotel. 
And this fundraiser helps us 

295
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:13,520
raise money for all of our 
programs. 

296
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,560
So whether it's our outreach 
programs, our workshops, it 

297
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,680
really it just helps us raise 
money to support the museum and 

298
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:23,760
support the work that we do 
within the community. 

299
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,880
Last year we raised just over 
$50,000 and this year our goal 

300
00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,240
that we're shooting for is 
60,000. 

301
00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,600
So I hope people can come and 
support us. 

302
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,600
It's a really great event. 
We have food donated from 

303
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,520
restaurants all over the area, 
really wonderful food. 

304
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,920
The entree this year is plated 
and served, which is a little 

305
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,480
bit elevated from last year 
where it was a buffet, so we're 

306
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,040
hoping that people will enjoy 
that. 

307
00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,160
And the theme is Brazilian 
Carnival, so you can expect some

308
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,840
Brazilian inspired entertainment
and food. 

309
00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,640
Very fun. 
So as far as the entertainment, 

310
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,440
help me understand that, what 
does that mean? 

311
00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,079
Like there's dancing and all 
sorts. 

312
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,880
Yeah. 
So we haven't finalized all of 

313
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,960
the entertainment for this year,
but I can tell you that 

314
00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:15,079
typically we have live music, 
some dancing, sometimes some 

315
00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:18,400
demonstrations of different 
things, but it's a lot of fun. 

316
00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:23,119
There is a silent auction, a 
live auction, a raffle and good 

317
00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,400
food. 
I mean, what else can you ask 

318
00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:26,599
for? 
Yeah, right. 

319
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:30,120
What as far as the silent 
auction goes, how do you guys 

320
00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:31,760
typically run that? 
Is it do you get? 

321
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,800
Are there organizations that are
donating items for the silent 

322
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,440
auction? 
Yep, we get a lot of donations 

323
00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:41,440
from local businesses and just 
like with anything, we build 

324
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,160
relationships with them and they
donate year after year, so we 

325
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:45,840
can always expect some great 
stuff. 

326
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,360
So it's stuff, but also 
experiences. 

327
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:55,120
Yeah, yeah. 
And if if local businesses, do 

328
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:58,240
you have everybody you need for 
the silent auction right now or 

329
00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,200
are you still looking for? 
We're certainly still looking. 

330
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,800
So we've got about a month and a
half left planning for this 

331
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,800
event and then it'll happen in a
month and a half. 

332
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,040
But we're certainly still 
accepting items from local 

333
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,920
businesses and sponsorships from
local businesses. 

334
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:17,080
We currently have 13 sponsors 
and we'd love to get up to 20 if

335
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,080
possible. 
So if people are interested in 

336
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,520
sponsoring, it's a great way to 
get your your business name out 

337
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,720
there and showing that you 
support the kids in our 

338
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,960
community and the work that 
we're doing here at the museum. 

339
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:33,040
So it's a great opportunity to 
support the Children's Museum 

340
00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:37,000
and also kind of give your 
business a little lift in the 

341
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,280
community too. 
Yeah, yeah. 

342
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,880
Is there any certain kind of 
items that you would like to 

343
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,520
have as silent item sale and 
auction items that you don't 

344
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,200
have yet? 
Well, we love gift baskets, but 

345
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:53,760
we also can take gift cards, you
know, service donations. 

346
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,680
If you want a business where you
do a service, you know, we would

347
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,360
love to offer that as an auction
item. 

348
00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,520
You know, sometimes people will 
do like one free car cleaning, 

349
00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,000
you know, you know, detailing on
your car or something like that.

350
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,280
We love those opportunities, but
we love just items. 

351
00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,000
If you've got items you want to 
donate, like if your retail 

352
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,400
store will take some of your, 
you know, donations of, of stuff

353
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:24,400
from your store or you know, 
free manicure or free pedicure 

354
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,000
or you know, that kind of thing.
But we'll take anything and 

355
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,000
we'll put it together in the 
package and make it look really 

356
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,240
great. 
Cool, very cool. 

357
00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,440
I'll I've just made me think of 
a couple of businesses that I 

358
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,640
know that I think would be a 
good fit. 

359
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,880
So I'll reach out to them and 
and see if I can I can rope them

360
00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,360
in. 
Yeah, or at least looking for 

361
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,080
more people to help rope people 
in. 

362
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:45,920
That's. 
Right. 

363
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,600
That's right. 
And so after the gal, which I I 

364
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,000
had, I can't even imagine. 
I feel like I'm so fortunate 

365
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,560
that I don't have to plan events
like that because anyone I talk 

366
00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,960
to like the amount of planning 
logistics and leading up to and 

367
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,800
nothing ever goes to plan right.
And then you need to get this 

368
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,160
big sigh of relief after the 
events over. 

369
00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,400
Yeah, it's a big undertaking, 
but I have a really great team 

370
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,520
of volunteers and staff that 
helped me put it together every 

371
00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:15,360
year and really I couldn't do it
without them. 

372
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,760
So I'm grateful for them and 
their help and it they make it 

373
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,640
easy. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

374
00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,920
So after after the gala, what 
what comes next? 

375
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:26,880
What do you guys have come 
coming up for the the summer 

376
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,720
lineup? 
Right, so summer is coming up 

377
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:34,520
really fast and you know I'm 
sitting here on March 31st, 

378
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:36,440
right? 
Is it the 31st already? 

379
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,240
And I'm already thinking well 
into April, May and June. 

380
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:45,440
So my mind is always a bunch of 
months ahead, but for starting 

381
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,320
in June, we're open seven days a
week for the summer time and 

382
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:51,920
that goes from end of June to 
Labor Day. 

383
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,520
We're open every single day 
except for July 4th, 10:00 AM to

384
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,880
3:00 PM. 
And we have tons of visitors 

385
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,040
that come in every single day. 
During the summer. 

386
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,440
We get tons of visitors from out
of state. 

387
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,800
People who are here visiting 
Lake George and Saratoga will 

388
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,560
always come to the museum as 
well. 

389
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,240
We're lucky in that we're one of
the only children's activities 

390
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,080
that you can do that is not 
weather dependent, you know, So 

391
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,160
when it's raining and the theme 
park is closed or it's, you 

392
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,000
know, not as fun for the kids 
because it's pouring, they'll 

393
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,520
come here and hang out with us 
all day. 

394
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,720
So we've got our summer hours 
coming up in June and then in 

395
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,920
August we have our annual summer
camps, our museum summer camps. 

396
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,920
So we've got sessions for ages 
or for grade levels pre-K 

397
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,640
through 2nd grade. 
We've got two of those sessions 

398
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:45,480
this summer. 
One is Messy Art camp and one is

399
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,320
Pirate Adventure Camp, and those
are so much fun. 

400
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,240
They're three hours for the 
littlest kids. 

401
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,880
And I think we're one of the 
only groups that that offers 

402
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,720
little kids summer camps. 
A lot of them, you know, are for

403
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,200
older elementary school and 
beyond, so we offer that. 

404
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,080
But then we also have programs 
for 3rd through 6th graders. 

405
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,600
We've got a music and movement 
class for them where they'll 

406
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,040
drum and learn music and things 
from international cultures. 

407
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,440
And then we have Urban Explorer,
our camp, which is the camp that

408
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:20,080
I lead each year, and it's six 
hours for five days, so Monday 

409
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,960
through Friday. 
And in that, when we go around 

410
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:27,200
to all the arts organizations, 
or a lot of them in Glens Falls,

411
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,240
we walk from the museum every 
day downtown. 

412
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,360
Sometimes we go to the Hide, 
which is opposite of downtown. 

413
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,480
We'll go to the Chapman Museum, 
we'll go to the Shirt Factory 

414
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,000
and one of the theaters, either 
the Park Theatre or the Wood 

415
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,240
Theatre. 
We go to the library and we 

416
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,200
really talk about arts as a 
whole. 

417
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,800
So like literary arts, 
theatrical arts, 2 dimensional 

418
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:53,360
art, 3 dimensional art, textile 
arts, street art, you know, so 

419
00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:56,600
we talked about every piece of 
art that you well, every type of

420
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,880
art you can imagine. 
And we, we talk a lot about what

421
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:06,520
the arts organizations in town 
are doing to enhance the arts in

422
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,360
Glens Falls. 
So hopefully once the kids leave

423
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,360
Urban Explorer Camp, they will 
tell their parents all about 

424
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,520
what they learned. 
And then the goal is to have 

425
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,160
them return to these arts 
organizations that participate 

426
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,640
in our program every summer and 
hopefully feel more confident 

427
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,040
going into the Chapman, for 
example, or the Hyde or Lerac 

428
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,160
and knowing what they're going 
into. 

429
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,000
And then they can kind of share 
that information with their 

430
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,960
grown-ups. 
So it's a wonderful program. 

431
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,920
They leave with the kids at 
summer camp, leave with a whole 

432
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,480
notebook or binder or packet, 
you know, whatever that session 

433
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,640
calls for. 
They leave with a ton of good 

434
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,080
stuff to take home with them. 
All the programs are run by 

435
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,360
adults. 
Me and the other staff people, 

436
00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,400
we're all over 18. 
I know a lot of the summer camp 

437
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,920
programs locally have teenagers 
working, which is great, but 

438
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,320
like, we're all adults taking 
care of your kids. 

439
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,520
So I hope that lends a different
level of trust for us. 

440
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,040
And it's just there's so much 
fun and they are really, they 

441
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,280
have a lot of value. 
And so we hope that people will 

442
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,000
check us out for summer camp, 
too. 

443
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,960
Yeah, and are all the summer 
camps 5 days? 

444
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,240
Yep, they're all Monday through 
Friday. 

445
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:28,320
So one week, one week in August 
for each one, The one so it's 

446
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,000
every week in August has a 
summer camp session going on. 

447
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,960
Fun, fun, fun. 
And now I know you said there 

448
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,640
was a couple different kinds. 
Are there? 

449
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,200
Like could, it sounds like 
there's different age groups for

450
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,440
a couple of them, so you 
wouldn't want, yeah, like your 6

451
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:46,760
year old's not going to go to 
all four of them, but that might

452
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:47,240
be. 
Correct. 

453
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,960
Yeah, So we have those two weeks
for the little kids, pre-K 

454
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,800
through 2nd grade, two weeks for
the older kids through through 

455
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,840
6th grade. 
That's fun. 

456
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,600
I'm sure the older kids 
appreciate the the age. 

457
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,920
The little kids would love to be
grouped to the big kids, but. 

458
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,040
That's true, but we have a lot 
of fun during the summer. 

459
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,320
And like I said, we try to pack 
in as much value for the kids 

460
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:17,280
and the parents as well as we 
can because we know that when it

461
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,920
comes to, you know, tough 
economy, tough economic times, 

462
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,680
the first thing to go are 
leisure activities. 

463
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,880
And so as as much as we can, 
whether it's here at, you know, 

464
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,880
at the museum for on site like 
workshops and art programs and 

465
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:37,480
things, or it's summer camp or 
any of our outreach programs, we

466
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,360
try to pack in as much value as 
possible because we know that 

467
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,400
people's money, you know, is, is
not nothing. 

468
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,320
You know, it's important. 
And we want to have that 

469
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:55,000
consistent reputation of being 
worth the cost, you know, so we 

470
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,720
try to do that as much as 
possible because all of us here,

471
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,720
we all understand what it's like
to have a smaller paycheck than 

472
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,280
you'd like. 
You know, that's just nonprofit 

473
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,600
work. 
We do it because we love it and 

474
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,680
not because we're making 
millions of dollars. 

475
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,360
Oh, so we would like to see 
value. 

476
00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:14,080
And we hope that everybody sees 
value in what we do. 

477
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,880
And and the, you know, it's sees
us as, like I said, worth the 

478
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,400
cost. 
Yeah, yeah. 

479
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,480
Well, I mean, 31 years running 
here, I'm, I'm sure people must 

480
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,520
see the value if you've made it 
that long, right? 

481
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,960
Yes, Oh yeah. 
But we're always looking for 

482
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,240
people to get involved in new 
ways and for new people to get 

483
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,680
involved. 
So you know, if anybody's 

484
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,400
listening and they're interested
in in coming in and seeing what 

485
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,320
we're doing is like a behind the
scenes tour, please reach out 

486
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,240
and I'd love to show you. 
Yeah. 

487
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:45,240
And, and what does that 
typically look like for people 

488
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,080
if they want to volunteer and 
they want to help? 

489
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:49,640
Is it? 
Yeah, we have different things 

490
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,920
to volunteer at. 
So we have event specific 

491
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,680
volunteers, whether it's joining
an event committee or helping 

492
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:56,840
out. 
For instance, at the balloon 

493
00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:01,160
festival where we run the bouncy
house village every September. 

494
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:05,040
So you know, event specific, but
there's also ways to get 

495
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,240
involved that are more long 
term, whether it's in our art 

496
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,440
collection. 
I haven't even told you about 

497
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:15,080
the art collection, I'll tell 
you or getting involved in our 

498
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,680
education programs and, and you 
know, leading some educational 

499
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,600
opportunities. 
There's many ways to get 

500
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,840
involved, but the art 
collection. 

501
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,040
Yeah, tell me about the art 
collection. 

502
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:27,840
Incredibly important part of 
what we do. 

503
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:34,320
So we have a collection of over 
8000 pieces of international 

504
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,600
child made artwork. 
So youth from four years old up 

505
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,920
to 1819 years old have created 
artwork from all over the world 

506
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,200
and we have, you know all of 
that. 

507
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:55,560
So this collection dates back to
1988 and it features over about 

508
00:27:55,560 --> 00:28:00,120
100 countries are represented in
this collection and it is the 

509
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,640
largest collection of 
international youth artwork on 

510
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,120
the East Coast and the second 
largest in the country. 

511
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,960
So everything that we do here is
inspired by the artwork that we 

512
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,320
have in our collection. 
So obviously our mission is what

513
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,240
grounds it all together, 
bringing our diverse world to 

514
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:19,640
children. 
And the way that we do that is 

515
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,800
through like, you know, the 
hands on space for children, the

516
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,920
outreach programs, the workshops
and things, but it all really is

517
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,240
tied together by the art 
collection. 

518
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,080
So the the exhibits that you see
in the museum are inspired by 

519
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,160
art in our collection. 
The programs that we offer use 

520
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,640
art from the collection as an 
educational tool. 

521
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,280
And the way that we talk about 
it and we tell people what the 

522
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,320
art is really for. 
Obviously it's nice to look at 

523
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,920
because some of these kids are 
incredibly talented and you 

524
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:51,560
would not think that a kid did 
them. 

525
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:58,600
But the real thing that we use 
this art for is really seeing 

526
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:02,720
the world through the eyes of of
children and so that kids can 

527
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,560
see the world through the 
perspective of other kids just 

528
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,000
like them, but from a different 
country, a different place. 

529
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,600
So it's an educational tool. 
They are historical documents, 

530
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,800
really capturing a moment in 
time, sometimes of a specific 

531
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,560
historical event or sometimes of
just a day in the life. 

532
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,080
So they're educational, they're 
artistic, and they're 

533
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,000
historical. 
And I hope that, you know, if 

534
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,800
you come and visit the 
Children's Museum, take a look 

535
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,320
on the walls and you'll see the 
art from our collection. 

536
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:36,640
Not all of it, but some of it. 
But some of it, yeah, I was, I 

537
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,920
was going to ask, do you have, 
because I didn't remember seeing

538
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:44,280
like a gallery, I guess, you 
know, or, or I know that 

539
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,240
there's, you know, there's stuff
everywhere, but do you 

540
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,400
essentially just have most of 
that in storage and you pull it 

541
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,000
out when you kind of move things
around or, or how do you use it?

542
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,880
Yeah, that's, that's mostly how 
it works at this point. 

543
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,120
We don't have a designated 
gallery space just because we 

544
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,840
don't have the space. 
We're all, we're act full right 

545
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,960
now. 
So we do have a lot of the art 

546
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,720
in storage, but we try to take 
it out and rotate the pieces 

547
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,200
that are hanging up in the 
museum at least once or twice a 

548
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,040
year. 
We also have an exhibit at the 

549
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,040
Mall at Aviation Mall right now 
by Target. 

550
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,600
We have an A storefront that we,
you know, showcase some things 

551
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:22,960
and so you can always see us 
there. 

552
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:28,640
But we're looking right now for 
places to loan our exhibitions 

553
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,400
as we do have that option if 
there are businesses or, you 

554
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,920
know, sometimes doctor's offices
will rent an exhibition from us 

555
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,560
for a year. 
We're happy to talk to anybody 

556
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,440
about that as well. 
OK, fun. 

557
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:46,480
So Bethany, if people want to 
learn more about the museum, we 

558
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,240
are what you do. 
Get involved. 

559
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,440
More information on galas and 
summer camps. 

560
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:53,920
How do they find you guys? 
They can find 

561
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:58,720
us.online@worldchildrensmuseum.org.
Perfect. 

562
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,520
And are you guys on the on the 
social medias these days? 

563
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:03,760
You do all that stuff? 
Yeah. 

564
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:05,720
Yes, we are. 
Yep, you'll find us on Facebook,

565
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:10,280
Instagram, World Awareness, 
Children's Museum, LinkedIn as 

566
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,280
well, so check us out wherever 
you feel like going. 

567
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:15,320
Awesome. 
Like and subscribe. 

568
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,920
Exactly. 
Well, Bethany, thank you so much

569
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,240
for coming on the show and and 
spending a little time with our 

570
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,240
listeners and our viewers and 
our readers really appreciate 

571
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,160
you taking the time. 
Yeah, of course. 

572
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,120
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm, you know, have, like I 

573
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,000
said, happy to talk to everybody
and anybody I can about what we 

574
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,640
do here. 
Absolutely sounds good. 

575
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,160
Well, thanks so much and of 
course, thanks everybody for 

576
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,720
listening and watching and for 
reading. 

577
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,240
For those of you that pick up 
the print publication as well 

578
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:47,880
each month, you can find our 
podcasts on Spotify, Rumble, 

579
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,920
YouTube and Apple Podcasts, of 
course. 

580
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,600
And then our website is buying 
local dot US. 

581
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,080
You can find not only this 
podcast, but all the other ones 

582
00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,120
we've done as well and some of 
the other media offerings that 

583
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,600
we have. 
So check us out and you'll hear 

584
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,120
from us next week, everybody. 
Thanks.