The Eyes of a Child

By Rebecca Meacham

A child's heart starts to beat before it's born. Today through the eyes of four children I saw the heart of a museum begin to beat before it opens on Sunday, April 16, 2000 at 2:00 p.m. A brother and a sister, 10 and 12 years old brought two friends, another girl, 12, and a boy, 9. They wanted to show their friends the cool things inside our building. The sister came over one day just to see if she could get in and met Mr. Larry Strehle, the President of our local Historical Society. Mr. Strehle gave her the grand tour of all of the murals and the museum.

He showed her the latest photograph donations about the construction of Camp Breckinridge. She particularly liked the photographs of the water treatment plant because it's across the road from her house. Her brother showed his friend the uniforms and the walkie-talkie and the field radio. When asked if he knew who painted the murals he replied, "a German prisoner".

When asked if the sister would like to give a children's tour for us she said, "that sounds like fun." Now remember, the girls were 12 years old and the boys were 9 and 10 years old. Their imaginations are hooked. Do I believe these children will have an ongoing interest in our facility? Yes. I saw the magic today in the eyes of children and was rewarded for my commitment to the new Camp Breckinridge Museum and Arts Center in Morganfield, Kentucky. This facility will open Sunday, April 16, 2000 at 2:00 p.m. These children are already avid fans. We hope you will be too.

I want to say to everyone who doubts that art is essential to the fabric of community life, you are not looking through the eyes of a child. What I saw today was curiosity, interest, and above all fun. Engaging a child's mind in history, art, writing, theatre, music and all of the other elements that add texture and soul to the human spirit is the most precious gift we as adults can give to our children and to our communities and to our Commonwealth.

I want to say thank you to Judge James D. Veatch (Judge/Executive, retired), Judge Larry Joe Jenkins and to the magistrates of the Fiscal Court for this tremendous effort. I wish you could have seen the eyes of those children. To the parents and to the schools that are educating them, you are doing your job beautifully.

To the legislators in Frankfort, do not fail the eyes of those children. You are the adults responsible for what those children enjoyed today. Before you take your pencils to the Governor's budget and cut the funding that makes our facility and others like it possible, remember the eyes of a child engaged in learning and having fun. If you cannot remember or do not know what that looks like, I'll get these museum "docents" to give you a tour. It will have to be after school though.

Governor Patton, you have my heartfelt thanks for your part in making this spring serendipity with these children possible.

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