Rochester Hills Museum to participate in Blue Star Museums One of more than 1,300 museums across America to offer free admission to military personnel and their families this summer

The Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm will be a Blue Star Museum, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and more than 1,300 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from through Labor Day 2011. Leadership support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. The complete list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

"Blue Star Museums may be the program at the NEA of which I am proudest," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "Blue Star Museums recognizes and thanks our military families for all they are doing for our country, and simultaneously begins young people on a path to becoming life-long museum goers."

"The success of last years inaugural year of the Blue Star Museums program showed that partnerships between the nation's museum and military communities are a natural," said Blue Star Families Chairman Kathy Roth-Douquet. "We are thrilled that 300,000 military family members visited our partner museums in the summer of 2010. We hope to exceed that number this year as the military community takes advantage of the rich cultural heritage they defend and protect every day. We appreciate the NEA and the nation's museums who chose to partner with us. We also are grateful to our friends at the MetLife Foundation, the lead supporter of the Blue Star Museums outreach initiative, whose generous donation helps make our work possible."

This year, more than 1,324 (and counting) museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative, including more than 500 new museums this year. This year's Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers, and 70 children's museums.

About Blue Star Museums
Blue Star Museums runs from Memorial Day, May 30, 2011 through to Labor Day, September 5, 2011. The free admission program is available to active-duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members). Active duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active duty National Guard and active duty Reserve members. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly. To find out which museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. The site includes a list of participating museums and a map to help with visit planning.

The Rochester Hills Museum is a 16 acre historic site that includes two farmhouses, a schoolhouse, nearby cemetery, gardens, and gazebo and is bordered by Stoney Creek.  It is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m.  The Museum is located at 1005 Van Hoosen Road, off Tienken Road between Rochester and Dequindre Roads. Visit www.rochesterhills.org or call 248.656.4663. 

Rochester Hills Museum to host Wet and Wild Wednesdays in July

Rochester Hills Museum Hosts Summer Camps

Maintaining Today's Cars

10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24

$10 per person advance/$12 per person door (Museum members $8 and $10, respectively)

If you're a first-time vehicle owner or have a new driver in the family, this session is for you.  Protect your investment and avoid getting stranded by learning about required maintenance including checking the oil, safely filling the fuel tank and changing a flat tire.  Learn what dashboard warning lights indicate and how to handle roadside emergencies.  Tips and techniques presented in the session's first half will be reinforced via hands-on demonstrations in the second half. 

From Chrysler's Vintage Master Tech Files

6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26

$13 per person advance/$15 per person door (Museum members $11 and $13, respectively)

For more than 60 years, Chrysler dealership technicians have learned in-depth diagnostics and service procedures through a monthly training program that's believed to be the longest running of its kind.  Master Tech courses - which are Web-based today - have advanced as much as the vehicles they highlight.  Join Steve Shugg, retired Director of Mopar� Sales and Training and Field Operations, for an entertainingly nostalgic look back at the then cutting-edge training from Master Tech's earliest days via delightfully antiquated original filmstrips.

Model Train Clinic

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3

$2 per person ages 5 and up with regular Museum admission ($1 for Museum members)

Celebrate the season with a stroll through the Museum's Cars, Trees & Traditions exhibition and delight in a variety of trains running through elaborate landscapes on an oval track in Boss Chrysler's Garage every holiday weekend with regular Museum admission, courtesy of the Stoney Creek Model Railroad Club.  Club members will host a Model Train Clinic Dec. 3 to work with young train lovers in creating lifelike scenery from everyday materials and provide tips to moms and dads about easy, inexpensive ways to start a model train tradition at home. 

Click here to register online for any of the Museum's 2011 Lecture/Workshop programs.  For additional information, e-mail events@wpchryslermuseum.org or call 248-944-0450.