In celebration of their 15th year, the Northwoods Children’s Museum (NCM) is offering free general admission to anyone in the community from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18. NCM opened its doors on April 18, 1998, and has since been providing a wide variety of family programs and events, hands-on exhibits and an educational toy store for families in the Northwoods.

Joy Long was the visionary behind the museum. She and her husband Mike brought their dream to a reality and served as co-administrators until 2007. The museum is governed by a volunteer board of directors and is currently headed by Rouleen Gartner, who began with the museum more than 12 years ago. “It has been so rewarding to be able to continue the tradition of this great community resource,” said Gartner. “My kids have grown up at and with the museum. There are also many more families I know that can say this.”

NCM serves more than 26,000 visitors each year and facilitates field trips for students throughout the state. In addition, it offers 23 interactive and educational exhibits and administers programs and events throughout the year.

For more information about the museum, call (715) 479-4623 or log on to www.northwoodschildrensmuseum.com.