Here’s to 40 years

Dear editor:

Mid-America Science Museum, like so many other businesses and organizations, closed to the public in mid-March. It’s been dark and quiet at the museum, something that is the antithesis of our mission. We miss our visitors, we miss engaging kids and their families in science exploration and, yes, we miss the crazy, wonderful activity that spring brings to the museum.

The world is marking milestones such as birthdays, anniversaries and weddings in new and understated ways in this strange time. Now we have one more to quietly commemorate: the retirement of Niles Ellis. As many know, Niles has been with the museum for over 40 years since it opened in 1979. I knew Niles before I moved to Hot Springs when I worked at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. His skills, knowledge, and expertise about exhibits and museum operations were admired and important to building communication and collaboration among other museums statewide.

Fast forward a few years and you’ll find me working at Mid-America Science

Museum learning that Niles’ reputation is well deserved. I have relied on him countless times over the last seven years as we have remodeled, rebuilt and added onto the museum. Niles has been a reliable mainstay and instrumental in the museum’s success. We will miss him for so many reasons — his love for the museum, his attention to detail, his eye for quality, his expertise in the visitor experience and, maybe most of all, how much he loved being in the galleries interacting with our guests.

He asked me to keep his retirement low key. I’m sure a letter in the newspaper is exactly what he meant! As soon as we can gather again, we will honor him with that taco bar he loves so much and toast him on his new chapter with a round of margaritas. Diane LaFollette Executive director Mid-America Science Museum