Dalton museum closed for 2020

PHOTO BY KURT IMMLER | DGKN

DGKN staff report

DALTON  The Dalton Community Historical Society’s buildings will be closed for the rest of the year.

“After a lot of deliberation, it has been decided to keep the Dalton Community Historical Society closed for the year 2020,” President Vickie Menges wrote in an email. “Considering the age of our members and the uncertainty of the pandemic situation, it is felt that the best action to take at this time is to keep the campus closed.”

The historical society has buildings at 115 E Main St., Dalton. Besides housing records and artifacts from the Dalton area, the organization is known for hosting the annual Strawberry Festival, offering presentations with speakers, monthly open houses, educating students and the community, and printing a calendar each year.

The historical society will not have any open houses or meetings for the rest of 2020, according to a news release.

“It has also been decided that we will not be making a calendar this year due to the pandemic uncertainty to when businesses will open, which is a big determination of where the calendars will be sold,” the release states. “There is not a big enough mail request for calendars to take the route of mail orders only.”

Some caretaking has been maintained at the museum, the release notes. Bushes around the building have been removed, and that area will be landscaped.

“Even though the buildings are closed to the public, some volunteers are still putting in time to take care of necessary actions,” according to the news release. “Articles still need to be acquisitioned, acquisitions need to be placed, and general maintenance needs to be kept up.”

Anyone who would like to help, can notify Vickie Menges or Vicky Slater and arrangements will be worked out so social distancing and the number of people in the area will meet specifications. The email address is daltonhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.