Museum opening set for Saturday in Walker

• By BOB ANDERSON
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 22, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

WALKER — On Saturday the  town will open a museum that focuses on the area’s history.

The opening is scheduled for 2 p.m., Mayor Bobby Font said.

The museum will be in a house built more than 100 years ago and in a yard with 200-year-old live oaks at 29350 Walker South Road, he said.

The family of William Aydell Sr. and Suzanne K. Aydell have loaned the town the house, which has oak floors and heart-of-pine walls, until a permanent location for the museum can be found, Font said.

Myra Streeter, the town clerk, said the museum will house items collected for Walker’s centennial this summer.

Among the things on display will be items from a general store, said Melanie Risher, manager of Hancock Bank’s Walker branch, who is loaning the museum things from the store run by her grandfather, Rudolph Peak and her grandmother, Aline Courtney Peak.

Antiques from the town’s old Post Office and saw mill will be on display, according to town officials.

A videotape of Walker residents sharing their history will be shown, Font said.

The museum will house a community art gallery for displaying the work of Livingston Parish artists, he said.

After Saturday’s grand opening, the museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is free, Font said.

Eventually one room of the museum will be dedicated as a classroom, the mayor said.

The house’s 1,900 square feet will be enough for the current items to be displayed, especially since the carport behind the house is available for some items such as an old plow that was once pulled by a mule and tools from an old blacksmith’s shop, Font said.

The site is just north of Interstate 12.