Snowfall brings wonder for newest museum member

The beautiful snowfall we had this past Tuesday prompts me to write about the newest staff member at the Lake County Discovery Museum.

Because this particular snowfall -- which was so soft and quiet and perfect -- was the first snow Justin Collins had ever seen.

Justin is the museum's new exhibitions developer. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Justin has skied on the human-made snow of the California slopes. But the temperature was in the 60s and some of the skiers wore shorts. Not quite the same as Illinois snow.

Justin, who holds a master's degree in Museum Studies, was most recently an exhibition technician at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, one of the nation's best-known science centers. His work at the Lake County Discovery Museum will provide considerably more diverse projects than at the Exploratorium. The Discovery Museum mounts exhibitions on art, natural history and human history, as well as hosting living history events such as Civil War days in the summer.

Beyond that, the museum has oversight responsibility for all the exhibitions in the Lake County Forest Preserve District, both inside and outside. Exhibitions district-wide coming up in 2008 include: outdoor panels on the flora and fauna at Rollins Savanna and Middlefork Savanna; exhibitions on the life and significance of Adlai Stevenson II at the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home; panels on preserve history to celebrate the district's 50th anniversary; and exhibition topics as far-flung as LP art, superheroes and "The American Soldier: A Photographic Tribute from the Civil War to the War in Iraq."

For regular readers of this column, here's my question. What exhibition subjects would most appeal to you at the Discovery Museum? We already have a lot coming up in 2008, and a lot planned for the coming years. But we'd like to know what you want us to bring to you in the way of exhibitions. Really, truly, give me your thoughts. You can e-mail me directly at khamilton-smith@co.lake.il.us or call at (847) 968-3380.

And if you see a guy looking up in wonder at the white stuff coming down -- that might be the new guy from California!