Megan's Maze opens at Children's Museum of Oak Lawn

This press release just came into my mailbox. It's such a beautiful development from such a sad situation that I'm going to print it without any edits. Peace and blessings to the Jurckes and Weglarz families for keeping Megan's memory alive.

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The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn is pleased to announce the unveiling of a new exhibit on Thursday, February 14 at 9:00am.  The exhibit is called “Megan’s Maze” and was created in memory of Megan Hurckes, daughter of Jerry and Mary Ann Hurckes.  The exhibit was made possible through the generosity of the Megan Hurckes Scholarship Fund and the Weglarz Family. 

Michael McGinnis, inventer of “Perplexus,” was commissioned to design and build the custom maze exhibit.  The exhibit is a 3-foot diameter clear “ball” with a maze inside of it.  The “player” must move a minature ball inside the larger “ball” through a 3D maze.  You move the outer ball to manipulate the ball inside.  The maze includes shapes and thing that were importantant to Megan. 

“Jerry and I had been talking for awhile about the possibility of the museum having an exhibit that would be in Megan’s memory,” said Adam Woodworth, Executive Director of the museum.  “Mark Weglarz approached us with this idea and it seemed to fit what we were looking for.  Once we connected with Micheal, the inventor of the perplexous, and began discussing what the exhbit was for, he really put his heart into the project and customized it so that it would be reflective of Megan’s life.”

Inside the sphere and as part of the maze, visitors will find a softball bat and glove which represents Megan’s love of softball.  Inscribed in the bat is “Westside” signifying that she played on a softball league with Westside baseball.  There are sea animals, also, that are part of the maze.  These animals represent Megan’s love of the ocean and her dream of getting into oceanography as a career. 

“The exhibit will be a permanent exhibit at the museum,” says Woodworth.  “Right now, according to the inventer, there is no other Superperplexus at any other Children’s Museum in the country.  That, coupled with the customization of this exhibit, truly make it one-of-a-kind.”

Exhibits that are one-of-a-kind aren’t unique to the Children’s Musuem in Oak Lawn.   The museum has been at the forefront of one-of-kind exhibits since they opened in their new location in 2009.  The “Let’s Chat” exhibit, funded by AT&T, and the “We the People…” exhibit, which includes two beam pieces from the World Trade Center Towers attacked in 2001, are also one-of-a-kind exhibits that can only be found at the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn.

For more information visit http://www.cmoaklawn.org/