More meetings planned for Mayfield Center, dinosaur museum

Following the first public meeting to discuss the future of the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History and the Mayfield Cultural Center, the two boards of directors have announced they plan to meet Thursday, and then will hold subsequent open meetings.

In an email message to those who signed up to serve as board members or work on committees, Bob Hrabik, president of the museum board, said the two boards will meet privately first to discuss the "pros, cons and legalities of a potential merger." After that, he wrote, "I would like to meet with all of you to further discuss/flesh out some of your ideas and additional thoughts since our public meeting last week. I have no date scheduled for this meeting. After which, I hope to host another public meeting toward the end of October if possible to inform all of progress."

At the previous meeting, the possibility of a merger of the two boards was brought up, as was a suggestion from Erin Schulte of St. Louis to completely replace both boards and start with a fresh perspective. Her remarks brought about the list of people who signed up to be considered as potential board or committee members.

Board members Eva Dunn and Jeanie Layton explained that the boards had split only recently, mostly because it is difficult to find that many people to donate their time, and that some have contributed so much time they are suffering from burnout. The Mayfield Foundation Board alone has 15 members, serving three-year staggered terms.

"The museum has lost more board members because of Mr. (Guy) Darrow than any other reason," said Dunn at the first meeting. "We had 29 members and 10 board members when we started."

Throughout the first meeting Dunn and several other people claimed Darrough was planning to remove his dinosaur fossils from the museum, and that he was difficult to work with.

Over the past week, The Banner Press has been in contact with Darrough, who said he would make a written public statement on behalf of himself and his wife. On Monday, however, Darrough declined to comment publicly on anything concerning the museum or its board of directors.

In his email to the people interested in the future of the museum and cultural center, Hrabik added some information detailing his own interest in preserving the museum:

"I promised during the meeting that I would provide you with a little background information about me and how I ended up at the BCMNH (given that I am not a "native"). I am the State Ichthyologist, Missouri Department of Conservation. I am currently writing the 3rd edition, Fishes of Missouri book. I have written other books and published over 70 scientific papers.

"I came to the museum looking for a home for my fish collections and to create a statewide repository for Missouri fishes because the state does not have such an institution. At this time, the third floor of the Museum is, in part, dedicated to this endeavor but first must be restored/renovated to house the collections. I live in the Gerhardt Lodge on the banks of beautiful Apple Creek near Old Appleton, Missouri (Cape Girardeau County)."