The USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum is gearing up for their 60th anniversary during the month of June with various exhibits and presentations.  Dr. Tim Riley stopped by Castle Country Radio to talk about what the museum will be doing.

“As you said it’s 60 years in 1961, there was some talk before that but really the first important dates are in 1961. The Chamber of Commerce gave some money in January to buy an Allosaurus skeleton, Al the Allosaurus that’s still in our Dino Pit from the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry and then on June 3 1961 the museum opened to the public,” said Dr. Riley. This really was a labor of love for the whole community as many community leaders put a huge effort into opening the museum back then.

“We’re really excited to celebrate these 60 years of people, and the institution itself, as well as the collections, we’re going to have in our temporary gallery going up on June 3 will be our first day that it’s open, just like 60 years ago. We’ll have an exhibit up that’s going to have three main parts. The first one, probably the one that many of our community members will really get a kick out of is a timeline where we are going to have newspaper articles and some concept art, and some of the old photos. We’re basically going to highlight some of the important events of 1961, all the way through to 2021 and perhaps beyond,” explained Dr. Riley.  They also will highlight and share some of their collections that have been gathered over the years.

There will be an opportunity during the event to share your own stories or experiences at the museum for a future exhibit. “What we’re going to be doing actually is we’re going to have part of the exhibit where we’re collecting your stories now with the idea that we can build those out in the future. So we’ll have a way for you to leave some of your favorite memories of the museum, or your favorite memories of Don or some of the other staff that you interact with over the years. It’s really going to be a lot of fun,” said Dr. Riley. Museum officials are excited to read the various submissions they hope to receive throughout the 60th Celebration.

To find out more about the 60th Celebration contact the museum at (435) 613-5060 or follow them on Facebook