June 2, 2004
Award recognizes museum founders
Cara Colburn and Pam McGraw receive state-wide Distinguished Educator award
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Two area women received statewide recognition last week for their efforts in founding the Great Lakes Children's Museum.
Cara Colburn and Pam McGraw, two stay-at-home moms who in 1998 decided the area needed such a museum, received a Distinguished Educator award for their exemplary service to education and educators in Michigan from the Delta Kappa Gamma Society. Ann Laurimore, Second Vice President of the Alpha Iota State Organization and a museum volunteer, nominated the pair for the award.
"It is a statewide honor and we were really humbled," Colburn said. "Pam and I didn't do anything just to receive honors and it is very humbling to receive this."
The women could not attend the society's statewide convention last month because of a previous commitment. They received the award last Wednesday at a ceremony at the museum.
"They are amazing, fantastic, remarkable," said John Noonan, executive director of the Great Lakes Children's Museum. "It's nothing short of miraculous, creating this museum, they did it incredibly quickly with no prior experience."
"It's a labor of love for both of them," he added.
Colburn and McGraw had never met when, independently, each decided that Traverse City was lacking in fun and learning environments for children. They both wanted a children's museum and had visited ones in other communities.
"There was not a lot for families, if you look at the cultural program the Chamber of Commerce ran five years ago, it was just screaming for families," Colburn said. "Nothing existed that you could stop by on your own time, in your own way and in your own space. That was kind of a niche we were filling."
Colburn heard about McGraw from a mutual acquaintance and one day called her up to talk. She invited her to attend a meeting in California about children's museums and McGraw jumped at the opportunity.
They returned energized, soon forming, choosing a theme, and beginning paperwork to become a non-profit organization. The board started a traveling museum to get the word out to the community about their idea - a decision that put everything into overdrive.
"As soon as we got going, people were calling us and asking what were our hours and where were we located," McGraw noted. "And we realized that we had to get it going as fast as we could."
Three years ago this August, the museum rented their current 5,000-square-foot site on West Front Street. About 3,700 square feet is dedicated to exhibits, the rest to an art room, gift shop, offices and restrooms.
The Great Lakes Children's Museum is now ready for its next step: a larger, permanent facility. Colburn noted that voters this November will decide on whether a parcel of land on State Street behind the Post Office will be rezoned for the museum's use. She and McGraw fervently hope so as they see so much that an expanded museum could provide to the community.
"For a lot of things, we could use a little bit more space," McGraw said. "We would also like the next phase to have exhibits for older kids, to make it more than a one- or two-trip experience for them."
This proposed new facility would also allow the museum to retool their exhibits and focus to match the curriculum focus of the state's schools.
"Part of the new permanent phase is we're looking to tie very closely to the current curriculum across the state of Michigan so many of the pieces can be done at the museum," Colburn said. "It's a very innovative model we're working with and we've gotten attention from even the Smithsonian because it has never been done before."
"I'm really excited about the concept, which is we need to pool our resources in all our locations to help the kids," she added. "The new facility will be geared much more to meet the needs of not only the families but the schools."