The L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum and Exploration Center is planning an exhibit highlighting the early days of COVID-19.

While many memories are not happy ones, there may be items residents have – letters, photos, mementos – that would illustrate the things that were happening in early 2020 until today. The museum hopes to have donations from the community depicting the era.

“If people have stories they’d like to share, or pictures they may have taken of things they were doing when the world changed, we would love to have them,” said Cherie Koss, executive director of the museum. “I saw an article about some things people kept, and one of them was a letter written by a six-year-old about not being able to go out because of the ‘vires.’ Another person had a photo of herself looking through the window at her grandmother, who was living in a senior home and was quarantined.”

Koss said the museum is hoping to share the community’s stories, whether they are happy, sad, poignant, scary or moving.

“Things that tell the story of the pandemic in our town,” she added.

Items can be brought to the museum, located at 12901 N. La Montana Dr., during open hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Stories and photos also may be emailed to development@riveroftime.center.

If items are to be returned to the donor, indicate all contact information. The museum also would prefer to have signed permission/photo releases for all donations. The staff can’t guarantee all items will be used, nor that they can be returned without explicit instructions.