The Far West & Mountain Region of ACGHS helped A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village of Salem, Oregon celebrate A.C. Gilbert’s 124th birthday. Ed Bohl, president of the Far West & Mountain Region writes:
On February 16th and 17th A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery celebrated the birth of A.C. Gilbert with fun and games for the children and a display of Erector sets and models for the parents and grand parents. There were many things for the children to do as the parents walked down memory lane looking at the Erector Sets on display from the collection of Francis Anderson, the Discovery Village and Ed Bohl.
There were many things for the younger crowd to do, an erector model building contest, magic tricks to do and learn, and magic shows to be seen on both days. One six year old was quoted in the Statesman Journal “I love magic, it’s fun to watch and do.
Kim Baldwin, the assistant director said “He was a genius. We look at A.C. Gilbert as a role model for how kids should use play to learn.”
Watching the children run and play to me it was very apparent that they were having fun, and without realizing they were learning many things. I was honored to take part of the celebration and hope that I can do it again. I was quoted by the Salem’s Statesman Journal as saying “They are unique. They’re educational. It’s still fun. I’m a big kid at heart.