The Champaign County Historical Museum located at 809 E. Lawn Ave., Urbana, is pleased to announce new and expanded hours. Effective immediately the museum will be open Tuesday - Friday 10 - 4 and Saturday 10 - 2. The museum will be closed on Mondays.

“We sincerely appreciate the voters who came out to support our levy which would have allowed us to hire full-time staff - a director, curator, and custodian,” said Dan Walter, CCHS President. “But since that issue did not pass, we are intensifying our campaign for new memberships and donations and are implementing new fundraising events. Recently these efforts have encouraged our board of trustees to hire a part-time Museum Operations Manager, Cheryl Ogden. This is a one-year post which we hope to extend pending successful fundraising.”

Commissioned originally as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, Captain Mitchell earned his Air Force Wings in 1976 at Williams AFB, Arizona. Throughout his career on active duty and in the reserves, he flew the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and later the C-5 Galaxy, the largest cargo aircraft in the world, throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa. After spending a short time with the FAA, Captain Mitchell had a second career as a commercial airline pilot, flying 9 different airliners for U. S. Airways, later American Airlines. He retired as an active pilot in 2017.

The Champaign County Historical Museum is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization that depends upon donations and dues to preserve, protect, archive and display the artifacts that tell the Champaign County story. The free public museum located at 809 E. Lawn Ave., Urbana. is open to the public from 10 -4 Mondays and Tuesdays.

Jacob Berner
Five experienced appraisers will be positioned in locations throughout the museum to accommodate attendees by describing the history and estimated value of each item presented.

The fifth appraiser highlighted is Jacob Berner of Donnelsville. He has owned and operated Berner’s Auction Gallery since 1997 and auctions about 700 antique items each week. His specialties include fine art, jewelry, antiques and decor, but he has “seen it all.” He is well known in the antique world and looks forward to the Appraisal Fair and helping you learn what your prized possession is worth.

About the event
The price of admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and includes one appraisal and a wine and cheese “bistro” provided by Freshwater Farms so that folks can socialize during the event and tour the museum rather than simply wait in line. Regarding the “show” component, an appraiser will be announced at five times throughout the evening; he will then present a special item to those gathered in the main meeting room.

Tickets may be purchased at the museum (Mondays and Tuesdays), at local banks – Civista, First Central National, Peoples, Perpetual, all county Security locations – and online until 11am on April 25th. In addition to benefiting the museum and preserving its artifacts, this will be a fun event for people of all ages to enjoy and hopefully one that will build from year to year. This is an excellent opportunity to have a family heirloom, an item from the attic, or perhaps something found when spring cleaning to be evaluated.

Dan Fawcett
Five experienced appraisers will be positioned in locations throughout the museum to accommodate attendees by describing the history and estimated value of each item presented. The fourth appraiser highlighted is Dan Fawcett of Cable.

Fawcett has been a collector, trader, picker and subject matter expert on antiques and collectibles for more than 40 years. He is well known to most dealers in the region and his opinions on antiques are frequently sought by the Ohio History Connection. His has a lifetime of knowledge of Logan, Clark and Champaign county artifacts. Fawcett is looking forward to the Appraisal Fair and helping you learn what your prized possession is worth.

About the event
The price of admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and includes one appraisal and a wine and cheese “bistro” provided by Freshwater Farms so that folks can socialize during the event and tour the museum rather than simply wait in line. Regarding the “show” component, an appraiser will be announced at five times throughout the evening; he will then present a special item to those gathered in the main meeting room.

Tickets may be purchased at the museum (Mondays and Tuesdays), at local banks – Civista, First Central National, Peoples, Perpetual, all county Security locations – and online until 11am on April 25th. In addition to benefiting the museum and preserving its artifacts, this will be a fun event for people of all ages to enjoy and hopefully one that will build from year to year. This is an excellent opportunity to have a family heirloom, an item from the attic, or perhaps something found when spring cleaning to be evaluated.

About the event
The price of admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and includes one appraisal and a wine and cheese “bistro” provided by Freshwater Farms so that folks can socialize during the event and tour the museum rather than simply wait in line. Regarding the “show” component, an appraiser will be announced at five times throughout the evening; he will then present a special item to those gathered in the main meeting room.

Tickets may be purchased at the museum (Mondays and Tuesdays), at local banks – Civista, First Central National, Peoples, Perpetual, all county Security locations – and online until 11am on April 25th. In addition to benefiting the museum and preserving its artifacts, this will be a fun event for people of all ages to enjoy and hopefully one that will build from year to year. This is an excellent opportunity to have a family heirloom, an item from the attic, or perhaps something found when spring cleaning to be evaluated.

Pollock has been a collector of Mechanical Music and Business Machines since 1974. Mechanical music items include phonographs, music boxes, automata, self-playing organs, pianos and related ephemera. Business machines include recording devices, adding machines, typewriters, and other office equipment. Pollock restored his first Victrola at age 13 and his first typewriter at age 14. His favorite part of collecting is bringing long silent machines back to life. Pollock is looking forward to the Appraisal Fair and helping you learn what your prized possession is worth.

About the event
The price of is admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and includes one appraisal and a wine and cheese “bistro” provided by Freshwater Farms so that folks can socialize during the event and tour the museum rather than simply wait in line. Regarding the “show” component, an appraiser will be announced at five times throughout the evening; he will then present a special item to those gathered in the main meeting room.

Tickets may be purchased at the museum (Mondays and Tuesdays), at local banks – Civista, First Central National, Peoples, Perpetual, all county Security locations – and online until 11am on April 25th. In addition to benefiting the museum and preserving its artifacts, this will be a fun event for people of all ages to enjoy and hopefully one that will build from year to year. This is an excellent opportunity to have a family heirloom, an item from the attic, or perhaps something found when spring cleaning to be evaluated.

Shipley has been a passionate collector of early Americana and Native American artifacts over 50 years. Early Americana items include relics from the Colonial and Federal eras (1620-1820). Native American artifacts include stone and flint arrowheads and cutting implements, trade goods, tomahawks, beads and wampum. Shipley is an avid amateur archaeologist whose favorite part of collecting is hunting for artifacts in the field. He looks forward to the Appraisal Fair and helping people learn the approximate value of their prized possession.

About the event
The price of admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and includes one appraisal and a wine and cheese “bistro” provided by Freshwater Farms so that folks can socialize during the event and tour the museum rather than simply wait in line. Regarding the “show” component, an appraiser will be announced at five times throughout the evening; he will then present a special item to those gathered in the main meeting room.

Tickets may be purchased at the museum (Mondays and Tuesdays), at local banks – Civista, First Central National, Peoples, Perpetual, all county Security locations – and online until 11am on April 25th. In addition to benefiting the museum and preserving its artifacts, this will be a fun event for people of all ages to enjoy and hopefully one that will build from year to year. This is an excellent opportunity to have a family heirloom, an item from the attic, or perhaps something found when spring cleaning to be evaluated.

The Champaign County Historical Museum will no longer be open on Sunday afternoons except when there is a scheduled program.

Museum hours are Mondays and Tuesdays, 10am - 4pm.

Teachers are always looking for ways to spark their students' interest in their subject matter. For me personally, as a teacher of history to young people who sometimes struggle to see the relevance of the past on their lives, it was often a challenge to make my lessons come alive to draw them in. Regardless of how well organized a lesson plan was, my students were always more engaged if the learning was experiential, such as interacting with a visual aid, rather than passively listening to a lecture.

The Champaign County Historical Museum is a treasure trove of over 13,000 artifacts which could bring history to life for Champaign County students and the public in general IF it is more readily accessible. Presently, lacking a dedicated source of steady income, the museum's hours of operation are quite limited due to the forced reliance on volunteer help, thus greatly restricting the museum's ability to serve the interests of the county.

On November 6th CCHS is seeking passage of a 3/10 mil operating levy to finance and expand educational outreach and hours of operation. The effective cost of the levy amounts to $10/year on a $100,000 property. For a nominal cost Champaign County residents will realize an exponential benefit, the very definition of a bargain. Please join me on November 6th in voting "YES" for the Champaign County Historical Museum levy. As Santayana also said, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”