Twas the Night Before Christmas

One of the things I find funny about my job as the Evansville Museum’s education curator is how far ahead of the calendar I work to prepare for events. This probably doesn’t sound very hilarious, but when you are sitting in your air-conditioned office blasting Christmas music in the middle of June, well, I find it amusing. 

So, that’s what I was doing this past summer. In June, Indiana was in its third month of the Coronavirus pandemic, no one knew how long it was going to last, and we at the Museum decided to plan for worst case scenario: that the pandemic would last all the way through Christmas, canceling all of our usual fun and festive events.   

After listening to Christmas music for a while, searching for a way to preserve some of the magic and wonder children deserve to experience during this special time of year, inspiration struck! This year the Evansville Museum is going to do something completely new: a virtual “Twas the Night Before Christmas” event.   

In early December, Santa Claus will journey from the North Pole to the Evansville Museum where he will read the classic story of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” onboard the Museum’s train. This reading by Santa Claus will be captured on video for guests to enjoy at home. Then, a team of elves will create take-home bag filled with everything you will need to create your own keepsake ornaments, as well as hot chocolate!  

My favorite part of this new event is that we will be able to personalize the videos; Santa Claus will be able to send a special message to each recipient by name. I am so excited that we will be able to bring some of the magic of a visit with Santa home, even during a pandemic.   

To order your very own kit, please visit https://emuseum.org/tickets and select “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at karen@emuseum.org. 

The cost for each kit is $35 for Museum members, and $50 for Not-Yet Members.  Each kit includes materials for 4 people so that the whole family can enjoy the holiday fun together; additional supplies can be purchased for $5 per extra participant.  Add-on books have sold out.

“Twas the Night Before Christmas” is sponsored by D Patrick Automobile Dealerships. 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!