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Date: 9/2/2021
HOLYOKE – As part of an ongoing city-wide effort to increase tourism in Holyoke and draw residents to local attractions, two organizations are working to increase their presence in the city.
As part of this effort, the International Volleyball Hall of Fame has now extended their hours and days of operation to seven days a week. Executive Director George Muly said the expansive hours were the result of a generous sponsorship from a local company, Casella, as well as other sources of funding. “We went out and were able to do some fundraising from donors outside the area,” he said.
The expansion of hours and days of operations, Mulry said, was a historic event for the Hall of Fame. “This is the first time we’ve been able to be open for seven days, and we’ve been open since 1987,” he explained. “We hope it’s something we can sustain.”
Prior to the extended hours, he said the museum was open just Thursday to Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Now, the museum is open to visitors Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The shift in hours, Mulry explained, was due to their ability to track the times people were visiting the museum through their online ticketing system.
“Because we had our online ticketing, we were able to see 1 percent of visitors came after 3 p.m. and asked for earlier times,” he said, adding they hoped to continue to expand their offerings and hours “even further.”
In preparation of both new hours and the upcoming Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Oct. 15 and 16, Mulry said they were “working on doing some renovations and updating displays.” Mulry went on to say that the pandemic had allowed them to evaluate their programming and look into possibly furthering what programming they could offer further. “I think that part of what the pandemic offered is a chance to look at what we do, some of our renovations. We’re able to host some events through outside groups, tournaments, all star groups,” he said.
He said while they wanted to “start slow,” there was typically an increase in visitors during this time of year. “As kids get back to school, colleges, we do see a bump, especially in an Olympic year,” he said, adding that membership typically declines slightly in the winter months.
The extended hours have also offered staff a chance to see more visitors in person, something Mulry said has been exciting. “It’s been great, the nice thing for us is seeing people on days we’re normally closed,” he said.
Mulry said he was thankful for the city’s continued support. “We just can never say thank you enough to the City of Holyoke. Embracing us the way the city does is pretty unique, it’s the main reason the Hall of Fame is still here today,” he said.
More information about the Hall of Fame, information about the induction ceremony and tickets can be purchased online at https://www.volleyhall.org/
The Children’s Museum in Holyoke is also gearing up for some significant events in honor of their 40th anniversary. Executive Director Susan Kelly said while they were still planning some future events in honor of the anniversary, they would be hosting a big event on Sept. 12 to kick off their celebrations. “On Sunday, Sept. 12, we’re kind of having a family birthday party with free admission to the museum from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. There’s going to be food trucks, a DJ, Holyoke Fire and Police trucks, goodie bags, a ZUMBA exhibition, glitter tattoos, Boomer the mascot from the Thunderbirds,” she said.
Kelly emphasized the celebration was for children in the community. She said the event will take place rain or shine, but they were hoping for good weather to host the event outdoors. “Weather permitting, we’ll move things inside if the weather doesn’t allow,” she said.
She added that the event would take place outside the museum in Heritage Park and would feature “free rides on the Merry Go Round.”
She went on to say the event would feature free admission to the museum, so they expected “it’s going to be busy.” Kelly said, “We’re going to encourage people to make a reservation online, so if it gets over capacity we’re in trouble.”
Kelly said the museum was busy planning for a “major fundraiser” at this time, “but wanted to recognize” the milestone of the anniversary. She added that they were “going to think about another adult event later in the year.”
She said the anniversary was “huge,” and she was excited to see what was in store for the future of the museum. “Compared to our humble beginnings, which was a storefront on High Street, we’ve just come such a long way, and it’s so state of the art now. People come from all over to visit,” she said.
While she couldn’t give further information, Kelly hinted at a new exhibit in the museum planned to be unveiled in 2022. For more information about the museum, hours and to reserve tickets people are encouraged to visit https://www.childrensmuseumholyoke.org.