The Rowan County Veterans Museum showcased its grand reopening with a multi-day celebration in downtown Morehead over the weekend. The organization had a ribbon-cutting to highlight renovations to the collection. One major update was the formation of war-themed rooms.
David Clinger is the museum’s historian. He said the showcases make for a memorable experience.
“We just recently finished our Afghanistan memorial wall. When you look at it, it’s like you're walking down a village in Afghanistan, rural Afghanistan and you see the mud wall with the wood roof and the big door. It really kind of puts you in that mindset that, you know, it's not your average museum. It takes you to these faraway places,” said Clinger.
He added people of all different backgrounds can have a personal experience at the museum.
“It transcends and crosses all of those boundaries. It’s really kind of eye opens and awakens people to the fact that, you know, they say to themselves, ‘That could be me, that could be my family member. That could be a member, somebody that I know, my neighbor, my schoolmate, classmate.’ You know, that's something that the museum really brings out. And we're very, very proud of that fact,” Clinger said.
Clinger said the museum allows the community to experience a small portion of what day-to-day life was like for enlistees.
The collection also highlights how war has impacted Morehead and Rowan County. The entry hall and the first room in the tour focus on Morehead State University during World War II. Images and artifacts spotlight the college’s time as a naval training facility. The museum is free and open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. More information can be found on the Rowan County Veterans Museum’s Facebook Page.