Belton-Once in a lifetime eclipses, deadly tornadoes, feats of aeronautical prowess, and out-of-this-world materials are all attached to the small town of Belton.  The Belton Area Museum Association will be featuring all this and more in its next exhibit Air, Wind and Space opening July 23, from 3 – 5 PM at the historic Belton train depot.

Featured in the exhibit will be interactive activities for children, moon rocks and meteors, a hot air balloon basket and racing memorabilia, products made in our area that support the aeronautics industry, vintage weather predictors, flight maps and equipment,  and other interesting artifacts pertaining to the powers of air, wind, and space.

At the opening event, space snacks will be served for all to enjoy and a special guest speaker will talk about his exploits in space.  The Honea Path Flying Club members will be interspersed throughout the display to talk about their flying experiences.

“We’re still looking for items to put on display,” said BAMA executive director Abigail Burden.

“We’d love to have you share your vintage thermometers, weather vanes,   tools, photographs, NASA memorabilia, and objects of interest on this topic,” she added.

Items for loan can be brought by during museum hours by July 19 or patrons can call 338-7400 to arrange pick up.

To commemorate the eclipse on August 21 the Museum is selling special AMAZED t-shirts until August 12.  This cotton t-shirt will sport the new Belton logo and include the date, time and duration of the eclipse.  Printed locally by Chuck Brooks at the Jean Shoppe, adult sizes are $18 each up to XL and youth sizes are $15 each):

The exhibit is sponsored by the WebbCraft Family Foundation, Timken, Anderson County ATAX, City of Belton HTAX, and the Hart-Oeland Foundation.

Please join us on Sunday, July 23, for this special event.

The exhibit will be on display until September 9.

Several camps are being offered in conjunction with the Webbcraft Family Foundation as a part of solar eclipse and exhibit:

• Weather Camp July 25-27, 10:00 to 12:00
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• Space Camp August 1-3, 10:00 to 12:00
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• Register for camps using this form
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The Belton Area Museum Association is open Wednesday – Friday, 9 am – 2 pm, and Saturday 9 am – 1 pm.  Group tours are available by appointment.  As always, the museum is free to the public.