The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association was founded as an organization of the people, by the people, and for the people. In that spirit, we are always reaching out to serve a wider constituency. Through our outreach programs we become a more integral part of the fabric of each community in our region—the communities and stories that our collection represents.
Examples of outreach initiatives include (click on the links to learn more):
- Free Admission Days: Memorial Hall Museum opens its doors for free to anyone attending the Fall Old Deerfield Craft Fairs. For many fair attendees, the museum is a new discovery and their first—but rarely last—visit to the museum. PVMA also participates in Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day in September, offering free admission to both Memorial Hall Museum and the Indian House.
- Veterans Education Project: Read the press release. Hear one of the stories here.
- THE BIG READ: We were honored to be awarded funds from the National Endowment for the Arts to provide six years of Big Read programming, most recently: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston in 2012-2013.
- Community Service Learning: Frontier Regional High School students made ceramics and period clothing for our interpretive educational programs, built a garden, helped organize our first BIG READ kick-off for Fahrenheit 451, and helped create an off-site exhibit at the Great Falls Discovery Center, Harvesting Yesterday, Cultivating Tomorrow. Pioneer Valley Regional High School students helped create the exhibit, From Hornbooks & Samplers to facebook & SMART Boards.
- Dinosaur Tracks Project/MCC Planning Grant: Learn more. Article.
- Actively involved in the Pioneer Valley History Network
- Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Workshop Host
- Map and guide to African American Historic Sites
