IceCreamSocThe holiday celebration features music, food, children's activities, craft vendors and loads of family fun!Annual Fundraising Event Features Local Musicians, Crafts, Food and Fun!

Silver City -- The Silver City Museum's 40th annual July 4th Ice Cream Social happens on the holiday, Thursday, July 4th, 11 am - 4 pm, featuring local musicians, food and craft vendors, free children's activities, the ever-popular cake walk, and more. This annual celebration and fundraising event takes place in the beautifully shady and cool museum courtyard at 312 West Broadway. Admission is free.

Musical performances include Flicker, Keana Huerta, Angelica Padilla and The Big Ditch Crickets. Nearly a dozen food and craft vendors, including Mint Chip Creamery, Fork Off, Exquisite Kustomz, Otter Chaos, Grumpy Mermaid and award-winning Navajo potter Romaine Begay will be offering a selection of unique, handcrafted food and craft items for sale. Tickets may be purchased for a variety of refreshments, including hot dogs, popcorn, lemonade and water, and a selection of specialty ice cream treats, provided by Food Basket.  

Tickets will also be available for some of the children's activities, including face painting, sand art and jewelry making. All proceeds from ticket sales help support museum programming. Free children's activities include chalk art, a story time corner, and a presentation at 12 noon about snakes by the Advocates for Snake Preservation. All children's activities will be held under a large, shaded canopy.

Visitors can also learn more about current exhibits and programs at the museum, including Nuestra Voz: The Chihuahua Hill Story exhibit, featuring dozens of oral histories from residents of this historic neighborhood.  The Museum Gift Store will also be open for browsing the carefully curated collection of unique and eclectic items, including one of the area's best selections of books about regional and local history. 

This year the "world-famous" cake walk features more than 40 cakes, giving cake lovers great odds of leaving with a treat. Music lovers will enjoy a wide variety of musical styles throughout the day, including mariachi, regional music, folk and traditional tunes:

11:30 Flicker, an eclectic mix, including regional accordion music;

12:30 The Big Ditch Crickets, a 14-piece community dance band, playing traditional tunes and New Mexican folk music;

1:30 Angelica Padilla, performing traditional mariachi and regional music; and

2:30 Keana Huerta, Tejana grooves.

Local sponsors of this long-standing holiday tradition include Food Basket, James Hamilton Construction Co., Freeport-McMoRan, Rotary Club of Silver City, First New Mexico Bank and Western Bank. 

For more information, please contact Brittany Beers, community engagement manager, at (575) 597-0230.

The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand, and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting the region's unique history. The museum is nationally recognized through its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums. 

Admission is free, though a suggested donation of $5 helps support the museum's education programs, collections care and exhibitions. For more information, please contact the museum at (575) 589-0221/   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or visit the museum's website at www.silvercitymuseum.org . To donate or to learn of volunteer opportunities, please visit www.silvercitymuseumsociety.org