Abby Epplett, Historian

During the 2025-2026 winter holiday season, I took a trip to western Michigan. During this adventure, I visited the Grand Rapids Public Museum , which is receiving its own three-part mini series. The first part featured the history of the museum, the temporary dinosaur exhibit, a permanent exhibit about the people of Grand Rapids, a permanent exhibit about animals in Michigan, and a special exhibit featuring LEGO models. The second part featured an exhibit near the planetarium, signed baseballs, a large map of Michigan, skeletons, transportation, and exhibits in the Gallaria. In the third part, I visited a scale model of a city street, saw many Santas, and enjoyed a pair of unexpected artifacts just outside the giftshop.

During the 2025-2026 winter holiday season, I took a trip to western Michigan. During this adventure, I visited the Grand Rapids Public Museum , which is receiving its own three-part mini series. The first part featured the history of the museum, the temporary dinosaur exhibit, a permanent exhibit about the people of Grand Rapids, a permanent exhibit about animals in Michigan, and a special exhibit featuring LEGO models. The second part includes an exhibit near the planetarium, signed baseballs, a large map of Michigan, skeletons, transportation, and exhibits in the Gallaria.

During the 2025-2026 winter holiday season, I took a trip to western Michigan. During this adventure, I visited the Grand Rapids Public Museum , which is receiving its own three-part mini series. In the first part, I will review the history of the museum, the temporary dinosaur exhibit, a permanent exhibit about the people of Grand Rapids, a permanent exhibit about animals in Michigan, and a special exhibit featuring LEGO models.

While taking a walk around downtown Plymouth, MA , I saw several pieces from the art installation Seal’d with Art: Plymouth Harbor Seals . This is the third time the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce has given the opportunity for local businesses to sponsor artists in creating a themed sculpture, the first two being lobsters and seashells. The seals debuted in Spring 2025 and remain on display through Fall 2027, so you have plenty of time to see this whimsical art. Below are my favorite seals out of the twenty-five in the exhibition.

Yesterday, as part of celebrating American250, I watched the historical fiction movie A Great Awakening produced by Sight & Sound Theatres  during a visit to Elm Draught House Cinema in Millbury, MA. Featuring talented actors, its signature musical style, and beautiful cinematography, the movie introduced the story of renowned traveling minister George Whitefield through his somewhat embellished relationship with Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. At two hours and nine minutes, the film captivates a receptive audience with a carefully constructed storyline, and yet it does not cover some key points in the lives of its subjects.

This week, I am releasing another section of music for “Book II, Chapter 2 The Shadow of the Past”. In this brief section, Gandalf began explaining the story behind Frodo’s ring and sang the famous theme song of the series, which originally appeared as the Epigraph in the text and was sung in the “Prologue” of the animated musical . While no new musical themes are introduced in this section, I used motifs occurring in previous sections to develop a cohesive score. This essay focuses mostly on music theory, but history-themed essays will be back in two weeks.

After spending the morning and early afternoon at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, I took a two-mile, out-and-back walk from the the free public parking at the Plimoth Grist Mill to Fisherman’s Memorial Park. Along the way, I stopped by Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II , Hedge House, and three statues dedicated to immigrant women. As an added bonus, I saw multiple public art displays , including the Plymouth Harbor Seals, which will receive their own post.

For my birthday in October, I visited Plymouth, MA, stopping at Plimoth Patuxet Museums before exploring some of the town. In my first post , I will discuss the Visitor Center, Craft Center, Historic Patuxet Homesite, and the Fort. In this post, I will discuss the 17 th -Century English Village. In the final post, I will describe Mayflower II, Plymouth Rock, and the Plymouth Harbor Seals public art display.

For my birthday in October, I visited Plymouth, MA, stopping at Plimoth Patuxet Museums before exploring some of the town. In this post, I will discuss the Visitor Center, Craft Center, Historic Patuxet Homesite, and the Fort. In the next post, I will discuss the 17 th -Century English Village. In the final post, I will describe Mayflower II, Plymouth Rock, and the Plymouth Harbor Seals public art display.

I first introduced Gandalf during my overview of wizards and balrogs , noting that he was an archetypal wise old man similar to Odin, Merlin, and Prospero. He also appeared as Olórin while discussing Lady Nienna , his mentor who was “acquainted with grief” and taught him “pity and patience”. While Gandalf was not born as a baby, since he did not have a biological mother, he did describe his early years in Valinor as his “youth”. He shared a commonality with Tolkien and many other characters in the legendarium: he was a foster child. This experience affected him throughout his lives. In this essay, I will explore how his experience as a foster child with a grieving surrogate mother may have related to his homelessness, apparent nicotine use disorder, and internalized need to always be good.