Timmy’s Town Center Museum debuts

Timmy’s Town Center (TTC) will be premiering for the Lackawanna Community on Friday, Nov. 13, at The Mall at Steamtown. Doors will open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and admission is free for the preview night. The children’s museum is in memory of Timmy Kelly, the son of Timothy and Lexie McFarland Kelly. Both Timothy and Lexie of Clarks Summit serve as co-founders of the new museum.

TTC has been in the making for the past three and a half years since plans were made public in June 2006. Timothy and Lexie were inspired to create the museum after their son Timmy died in 2003 from a brain tumor at the age of 5. During his radiation treatment, the Kelly family lived in Philadelphia for six weeks and Timmy often played at the Please Touch Museum while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. The Kellys wanted to create the TTC for the Scranton community by modeling after this Philadelphia museum.

The new museum is community owned. Lexie and her husband Timothy have both done a lot of market and research and all of the exhibits and programs used have already been previously tested. TTC will feature the same four exhibits weekly. The four exhibits include a read-cycling program that introduces literacy and sustainability to children, a farmers’ market that teaches healthy lifestyles of nutrition, a puppet theater and an “Art-er Space” exhibit that involves science and art.

“The exhibits are experimental,” Lexie Kelly said. “Children anticipate and like the familiarity, so the way kids experience the exhibits change each time.” In other words, the experience changes for the child visiting the museum. However, the actual exhibits will stay consistent.

The only programs that change are the themed presentations held each Saturday and Sunday. Each weekend a different presentation will be available for children. Varying themes from week to week will include art, multi-cultural, literacy, sustainability, nutrition and healthy lifestyles, science and history of our region. The same presentation for a specific weekend will be shown both at 1 and 2 p.m.

The target audience for Timmy’s Town Center is from the ages of 1 to 10. Kelly believes that the primary age is more likely between the ages of 4 and 7, which would include preschoolers. Kelly would enjoy seeing that TTC makes a difference to how the community perceives the younger generation, mo matter what the age of the children. “I certainly hope (TTC) will increase the child’s education and to help them get ready for school. I also hope it familiarizes them and shows people how each child is important to the community.”

After its preview Nov. 13, TTC will officially premiere on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15, from noon to 4 p.m. A themed literacy treasure hunt will be featured both days. Besides its preview on Friday, cost for admission will be $2 per person and free for children under the age of two.

The museum will be open on weekends during the same hours of its opening and by appointment during the week. The museum will be able to accommodate for special events and for school field trips. Its location at The Mall at Steamtown is between Gertrude Hawk and the Bon-Ton department store. For details, call 570.585.2931.

Schedule of programs

Nov. 28 to 29: Culinary talk on where food comes from with Johnson and Wales graduate Mayra Moldonado (Sunday 1 p.m. program will be presented in Spanish)

Dec. 5 to 6: Department environmental sustainability program with Barbara Giovagnoli (Sunday will feature an art day using recycled materials)

Dec. 12 to 13: Volunteer from Jewish Community Center presents a holiday art project