The Belton Area Museum Association (BAMA) announces its newest exhibit Natural Connections, which opens March 24 at the Historic Belton Train Depot with an engaging and family-friendly celebration.

The exhibit focuses on the use of our personal spaces to create a natural connection, concentrating both on past and current trends. The exhibit features antique and vintage gardening tools, artwork and photographs of famous and local gardens, wildlife taxidermy, outdoor structures, collections of bugs and butterflies, and many other interesting items with connections to nature in our own backyards.

Sponsored by Creative Grant Solutions, the exhibit and opening celebration are free to the public. The exhibit will be on display March 23 – May 25.

There are several ancillary activities planned throughout the exhibit run.

A home school event will be held on Wednesday, March 27, for ages 7 – 12.  The $3 class fee enables children to experience the science in their own backyards.  They will extrapolate DNA from fruits, test soil samples, and watch plants “breathe.” The two-hour session will provide hands-on opportunities for STEM interactive activities.  Reservations are required by March 26 by calling 338-7400.

The SC State Chili Cook-off Championship will be held on April 20.  In addition to viewing the exhibit and the other galleries of the museum from 10 AM – 2 PM, BAMA will host a plant sale in conjunction with the Belton and Honea Path Middle School FFA organizations.  Garden and floral plants will be available for a minimum purchase and all proceeds benefit the non-profits.  Check out BAMA’s booth at the festival!

On Thursday, May 2, from 6:30 – 7:30 PM, Emily Keys of Backyard Bouquets will host a seminar on arranging plants and flowers gathered from the wilderness or their own backyards.  The class is limited to 25 people and every participant will go home with a beautiful arrangement and new skills.  The fee is $25 per person and reservations must be made by calling 338-7400 by April 26.

And finally, BAMA is partnering with the 2^nd Annual Erskine Flower and Garden Show, held on Saturday, May 18, from 10 AM – 3 PM in Due West, SC.  BAMA members who show their current membership card will gain free admission to the many seminars and vendor booths on tap that day.  More information about this event can be found at https://www.erskine.edu/flower-garden/

Either because of necessity or aesthetics, people have dug in the dirt and connected to backyard nature in various ways.  Home gardens produced vegetables to feed ourselves. Flowering shrubs and bulbs, annuals and perennials were planted to beautify our surroundings, creating gardens both secret and luxuriously public.  We’ve brought in exotic plants to grace our homes and produced new strains using science and natural selection.  Pests are always a nuisance and gardeners have found innovative ways to deal with them.  Wildlife of all types abound in our backyards. And games and gatherings bring people together.

Come join us as we examine all aspects of our natural connections!

The Belton Area Museum Association is a place where people of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities can learn about and experience our area’s history and culture.  Museum admission is free.