Petty Officer First Class Chris Caputo, 29, went to the Florida Museum of Natural History on Monday with his wife and two children. He appreciated the opportunity for a day trip away from Jacksonville, where he is currently stationed.
Florida Museum will be offering free admission to any fee-based exhibits, such as the new exhibit “Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats,” to active-duty U.S. military personnel and up to five family members this year from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
“It’s been great for the kids,” Caputo said. “They’ve been able to get their hands on everything.”
Caputo, who has served for eight years, works as an in-flight technician in the Navy. He said his children particularly enjoyed the interactive exhibits the museum offered, which include a dark cave exhibit that can be crawled through and the museum’s “Youth Discovery Zone.”
Caputo said despite military life being fulfilling, it can be difficult to manage with a 6-year-old boy beginning to play hockey and a 3-year-old girl trying her hardest to keep up with her older brother.
As he spoke, his kids giggled and jumped with about a dozen other children in the museum’s main gallery, watching an augmented reality Columbian mammoth stomp around on an array of screens that were displayed on the room and, to the children’s delight, them.
Caputo said he thought the opportunity at the museum was a fitting tribute to the occasion, allowing military families to relax and reflect for a day. He said it could be a welcoming escape for some.
“I think it’s a great way to honor (those who served),” Caputo said. “It’s much better than sitting around cooking and drinking.”
Paul Ramey, the assistant director of marketing and public relations at the Florida Museum, said the staff is more than happy to support active-duty service members and veterans. He wishes more could be done to thank them.
Ramey, an employee of the museum since 1999, said there were not many locations offering opportunities like this when the museum first started the partnership with Blue Star Museums, which is now in its seventh consecutive summer working with the Florida Museum.
He said attendance has been steady and has even increased during the promotion that gives free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families.
According to Blue Star Museums, the number of museums participating in providing service members and their families with opportunities like this now exceeds 2,000.
The organization’s website contains a consistently updated list of offers that families may use. In Gainesville, the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Harn Museum of Art are the three listed partners.
Limited exhibits of the museum that are currently on display are “Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats,” “Hope for Humpbacks” and “Mapping the Museum’s Collections.”
“The museum doesn’t have many ways to show our appreciation,” Ramey said, “so anything we can do, even little things, are important to us, and hopefully them.”
Follow Jacob on Twitter @jacob_kovach and contact him at jacobkovah1@gmail.com.
The Florida Museum of Natural History "Southwest Florida People and Environments" permanent exhibit features a Calusa Indian welcoming ceremony set in the 1500s and designed based on written accounts. The Calusa ruled southwest Florida at the time of European contact. Florida Museum of Natural History photo by Eric Zamora
