The trickledown effect of state budget cuts have reached two state museums in Claremore; the Will Rogers Memorial Museum and the JM Davis Arms & Historical Museum. The JM Davis suffered a cut of more than $55,000 for this fiscal year, on an already lean budget.
“A budget cut of that magnitude is crippling to the JM Davis Museum, which is a revenue generator for the state of Oklahoma”, said Tanya Andrews, Director of Visit Claremore. “As a tourism partner, a Claremore jewel and a world-class museum, it is vital that citizens help if possible.”
A community wide effort to help the museum raise dollars is through a raffle for a chance to win one year of free electricity. Chances are $25 each or 5 chances for $100. Winnings are up to $3,000 in electricity for Claremore utility customers. Rules for the contest include the winner must be a single-meter residential user of the City of Claremore Electric, or the winnings can be transferred one time to a user of their choice. Not eligible to win are employees and Commissioners of the J.M. Davis Museum, Officers of the Friends of the J.M. Davis Museum, and employees of the City of Claremore.
Raffle tickets are available at any Claremore location of BancFirst and RCB Bank.
Limited operating dollars has caused the museum to change their hours to 10 am to 5 pm and they are now closed on Sundays and Mondays.
“This limits our visitors’ opportunity to enjoy this treasure, but it is necessary to keep the doors open”, said McCombs. “We are hopeful that the state’s budget crisis improves but for now we have no alternative but to limit museum hours and focus on fundraising efforts”.
The winning raffle ticket will be drawn on December 31 during the City of Claremore’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Bash.
“This year’s celebration will be held at the West Bend Green at the Claremore Expo Center”, said Andrews. “What a great way to ring in the new year by celebrating with our community and possibly winning a year’s worth of electricity! Both are cause for a great celebration”. “The Rockin’ New Year’s Eve will begin at 6pm with a Fireworks Show to start at 9:30pm.
To learn how you can help keep this museum up and running for holidays to come, call the museum office or Visit Claremore.
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