McHenry County to debut Museum Week, set for April 5-13

The McHenry County Historical Society and Museum wants residents out and exploring their community, and that means more than just visiting the Union-based museum, Executive Director Jolie Diepenhorst said.

That is part of the reasons she brought the idea of a Museum Week to McHenry County from her previous job in Wisconsin, and why museums and libraries agreed to get in on the fun, Diepenhorst said.

“We want everybody to explore McHenry County and what we have to offer – what they can offer you as ‘Joe Public,‘” Diepenhorst said.

Starting on Saturday, April 5, and going until Sunday, April 13, the public is invited to visit at least eight of the 10 participating museums and libraries, scavenger hunt style, to receive a prize at the eighth location.

“They can start wherever they want to and answer questions to get a stamp” on the Museum Week bingo card, Diepenhorst said.

What questions visitors will have to answer to get that stamp is a secret.

“They have to go look for them” at each location, she said.

Or, instead of the paper bingo card, participants can download the Goosechase app to play.

The McHenry County Conservation District – one of the organizations participating – has used the Goosechase app for its summer-long “Find Your Wild Summer Challenge” for the last three years, Director of Marketing and Education Caitlynn Martinez-McWhorter said.

For Museum Week, the conservation district is asking visitors to stop by either the Lost Valley Visitor Center or the Powers-Walker House, both in Glacial Park near Ringwood.

“This is a fun way to engage with local history using gamification and we are excited to be a part of this collaboration that gets people exploring their community,” Martinez-McWhorter said.

When Diepenhorst reached out with the idea, the conservation district already had an event planned at the Powers-Walker House. Each quarter, events are held there that includes historical reenactments. From noon to 4 p.m. April 13, that will be reenactments of Norman and George Powers.

The volunteers, dressed in historic garb, will talk about how the early settlers lived in McHenry County, Martinez-McWhorter said.

There are events planned throughout the week at the historical museum as well, Diepenhorst said, including a tots story time on Tuesday, a yoga event on Wednesday and a class on how to use the museum’s research library, as more.

The week is capped off from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 11, with Night at the Museum: Brews, Bites and Beats – Where History Meets Happy Hour.

The $20 ticketed event will include the Kissed by Fire food truck, music from Vaguely Familiar Acoustic Guitar Duo and beer from McHenry Brewing Co.

More information and how to get tickets for the Night at the Museum event can be found on the museum website, mchenrycountyhistory.org. To use the Goodchase app, participants should enter the code 9K1L48 to play.

Also participating are the Volo Museum, The Nature Center and the Colonel Palmer House at the Crystal Lake Park District, the Crystal Lake Public Library, the Woodstock Opera House, the Woodstock Public Library and the Illinois Railway Museum in Union.