Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
It’s been a rough summer for the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Museum. Though the building itself was spared in the Rowena fire, the doors had been wide open at the time while awaiting a fix to the air conditioning, and there was heavy smoke residue throughout the building. It’s been closed since June 11, but since then the residue has been cleared, the air conditioning has been fixed, and Director Cheryl Ragar shared an important update at the board meeting on Wednesday:
“The good news is that we are now open — Well, almost. We’ll be open on Friday, we’ll be open all weekend for Labor Day weekend for all the people traveling and we’ll have new exhibits, new things to do, so please come out here.”
One of the new exhibits is called “A Sense of Place” and features a stunning display related to the Imperial Stock Ranch in south county, which has supplied the wool for the Ralph Lauren sweaters worn by the US Olympic ski team and specialty collections from some of the world’s top designer.
And Director Ragar announced the 16th annual vintage evening dinner and auction will be Saturday, October 4 at the Discovery Center.