We have a summertime treat for you…. A Picnic AND Concert on the Lawn, 6 p.m. Saturday, June 21 on the beautiful CCHS Museum grounds, 809 East Lawn Ave., Urbana. PLUS, the Grand Reopening of the CCHS Museum, to provide you the first walk-through to see the improvements we’ve made to your local history museum … new cases to better display historical artifacts, new carpet and paint, a new layout of exhibits, and more. Buy tickets for $20 each on the CCHS website, https://www.champaigncountyhistoricalmuseum.org/. Or stop by the museum. The concert will feature blues artist John Booth (photo), whose great-great-grandfather, Addison White, made history in Mechanicsburg, in1857. John will perform blues covers and original compositions with voice, guitar and flute. Now living in Yellow Springs, he grew up in Mechanicsburg, where, a century earlier Addison White was given shelter by abolitionist Udney Hyde. (By the way, John Booth will return to the Museum July 27 to share the rest of his notable ancestor’s story in a free presentation at 2 p.m.) The picnic menu will include choice of salad, sandwich, or wrap and two sides, out of six options, and a cupcake for dessert. Buy your tickets now. We look forward to seeing you on June 21! (fb)

Exciting improvements to the Champaign County Historical Society Museum continue. We recently welcomed delivery of 15 new display cases. Next week we expect 18 more. This means our director and dedicated volunteers are busy setting up the cases, placing in them historical Champaign County artifacts with newly created descriptive graphics that tell their stories. We confess, it’s a painstaking process. But well worth the work and wait. The new cases will give you a better look at our collection. And get this: They’ll give us the room to display and tell you more about our local history! (fb)