The Museum Association of East Muskingum spearheaded the initiative to install a new welcome sign for the village of New Concord on SR 83, coming from I70. The sign was made possible thanks to funding provided by The J.W. & M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation.
“This sign is a wonderful way to ensure that our America 250 celebrations extend past this year and have a positive impact on our community for years to come,” stated Hope Neal, assistant director of operations for the Museum Association of East Muskingum.
The Museum Association of East Muskingum manages the National Road and Zane Grey Museum located at 8850 E. Pike, Norwich (less than 5 miles from New Concord), and the John & Annie Glenn Museum located at 72 West Main Street, New Concord.
This is the second sign project the organization has unveiled recently in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. The first was replacing a 50-year-old sign that was on the Glenn Plumbing Building, 42 E. Main Street, New Concord.
The J.W. & M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation was instrumental in the process. “We are so extremely grateful for their help in doing that [providing funding]. This has been a wonderful thing for the village to do, and for us to do,” Neal said.
“I think the sign itself is just an excellent contribution to our village. I am a resident here,” said Dr. Beth Fox, director of special projects for The J.W. & M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation. “It’s a great contribution to our village, and I think it just shows the extent to which the Straker Foundation reaches out within Muskingum County. So this is just one of the many contributions that they’re making, not only to the city of Zanesville, but to our entire county as a whole.”
Besides adding new signage, the Museum Association of East Muskingum has been working on events for this milestone year, celebrating U.S. history. “The first thing that we got off the ground was a historic business event that we were part of, where we sort of highlighted all of the businesses that have been in New Concord, what they looked like in the past,” explained Neal. “Our next big event is a dinner and a movie at the Zane Grey Museum, where we will be showing a Zane Grey film. It will be catered by Theo’s; we even have a speaker from the Zane Grey West Society who’s interested in coming, so we’re very excited for that. And then the next thing that we are doing is a paint and sip here in New Concord, using some of the slate from the original roof of the Harper Cabin.”
For more information about the Museum Association of East Muskingum, visit johnandannieglennmuseum.org or nationalroadandzanegreymuseum.org. For information about The J.W. & M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation, go to www.strakerfoundation.org.
CAPTION: A new welcome sign for the village of New Concord was installed on SR 83. Standing to the left of the sign are New Concord Mayor Robert Dickson and The J.W. & M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation Director of Special Projects Dr. Beth Fox. To the right of the sign are representatives from the Museum Association of East Muskingum including Director of Operations Debbie Allender, President of the Board of Trustees George St. Clair, and Assistant Director of
Operations Hope Neal. | CREDIT: Lynette Dotson, The Buzz
