This Saturday, the United States Marshals Museum in Fort Smith is celebrating their second annual Founder's Day celebration. Ozarks at Large’s Andreah Gratol has more.
Satori Haest is the director of sales and community engagement for the Marshals Museum. The event strives to honor the 236th birthday of the establishment of the Marshals Service, but also aspires to raise funds in order to support future event programs.
“Since opening, we've actually had a space where we've been able to bring people in. We've had artifacts in the experience galleries to provide more of a space for them to come in and connect with rather than just hearing the stories outside of the building. So I would say that the biggest thing is now we're able to welcome the community in to actually see the real-life accomplishments at hand.”
The biggest difference with this year's Founder's Day celebration is the environment the Marshals Museum hopes to cultivate.
“You know, we went back and forth between a full-on dinner versus a cocktail party. But the goal of this event is to connect with everybody. And rather than doing a traditional sit-down dinner where people are at their own tables, we really opted to be able to provide a space where people can move around at their own leisure. We will have our galleries open during the event. So this just allows people to be able to enjoy the full museum as a whole freely, and it allows people to move around and connect with people more one-on-one.”
Haest says that this event is for everybody and anyone who supports the Marshals Service.
“Essentially, this event is open to the public. Admission required, of course, but it is open to the public for anyone who wants to just be a part of this event, maybe learn a little bit more about the event. Of course, our goal is to raise money for the museum so we can continue to educate as we continue for many, many years.”
Fort Smith was actually chosen to have the Marshals Museum. And she says people may not realize that there is a lot of Marshals Service history in Fort Smith.
“So this is a great opportunity for the community to show up and show out and really show pride in the fact that we were selected to have this national museum here in our city. We just want to show people that our work is important.”
Haest says that the museum's mission is to inspire Americans across the country and beyond.
“So essentially, by continuing to raise money, by continuing to raise awareness, we're able to continue to put out programs that teach and reach visitors around the country and especially students in our area. We have a lot of great programs that are directly toward students, but we also have many that are available for adults too. So as we continue to raise money, it just allows us to continue to be an educational outlook when it comes to the history of the Marshals Service.”
The Marshals Museum says that this event is so important and wants to emphasize that the Founder's Day celebration is just a big party for supporters and community members to come out to the museum, especially if they haven't been before.
You can find more details about the Founder's Day event and the museum at marshalsmuseum.org.
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