Meeteetse Museums to host Labor Day Archaeology Fair, Quilt Shows

MEETEETSE — The Meeteetse Museums will be hosting its inaugural Labor Day Archaeology Fair on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4. Admission is free.

The fair will consist of a variety of fun hands-on stations (for youths as well as adults) operated by archaeologists and museum professionals from around Wyoming. The stations will run from 10 a.m. (immediately following the Meeteetse Labor Day parade) until 4 p.m. A “Passport to the Past” system will be in place, whereby everyone visiting a station will get their passport stamped. Those visiting all stations by 4 p.m. will receive a “Junior Archaeologist Certificate.”

Among the archaeologists committed to running a station are: Beth Horton, PhD - Yellowstone National Park; Adam Guinard - University of Wyoming; Brigid Grund, PhD - University of Wyoming; L.C. Todd, PhD - Colorado State University; Rebecca Brower - Washakie Museum and Cultural Center; Ernest Gendron - Buffalo Bill Center of the West; Vanessa Gendron - Buffalo Bill Center of the West; and James Platt - Wyoming Archaeology Society.

Bonnie Smith, Assistant Curator of the Draper Natural History Museum at the Center of the West has been the primary organizer of the event and instrumental in recruiting most of these archaeologists to the line-up. She will be manning the “Pictures on the Wall” station.

Following is a tentative list of the archaeological stations that will be set up around the Meeteetse Museums complex and the baseball field:

Archaeology Fair Stations (as of August 26):

—Atlatl throwing (at the baseball field, adjacent to the rodeo grounds)

—Projectiles and hunting on the Plains

—Finding your inner bison

—Test excavation: Test pits and site forms

—Tool Time with Early Man

—Pictures on the wall (hands-on rock art learning)

—Ceramic reconstruction

If you would like to volunteer to assist the archaeologists at a station, contact the Meeteetse Museums at 307-868-2423.

QUILT SHOWS

The Meeteetse Museum will also be hosting two quilt shows over Labor Day Weekend: the Annual Chatelaine Quilt Guild Show and the new “Places in Our Hearts” Quilt Show. Both shows will open Friday, Sept. 1, and will run through Labor Day, Sept. 4.

The Chatelaine Show features full size quilts, plus other creative textiles of various sizes. Textile artists include members of the Chatelaine group, such as Lili Turnell, Sharon Fech, and Dawn Beer. In addition, the “Places in Our Hearts” Show will feature a collection of smaller wall hangings containing an assortment of intricate designs and images. This is a great collection of works by talented textile artists that must not be missed, according to Meeteetse Museums Executive Director David Cunningham.

For more information about these free events, call 307-868-2423 or email [email protected].