Museum Guide

The Roy Orbison Museum is a small museum dedicated to rock-n-roll legend and singer-songwriter Roy Orbison, who lived in Wink, TX as a child and performed with various country-western bands during the 1950s before heading on to pop stardom. The Museum was formed in 1989 by volunteers of Wink to pay tribute to a favorite former resident of this small oil field town, Roy Orbison after his death in December 1988. The museum houses memorabilia from all over the world courtesy of his many fans. While Wink, TX is very small, it attracts visitors from many countries around the world to visit the museum. Wink will celebrate their Centennial on May 9th, 2026, which promises to be a wonderful celebrations! When ready to visit us, contact Barbara at 432-999-8838 and to learn more online at: https://texastimetravel.com/directory/roy-orbison-museum/ The museum is free, but donations are always welcome! Our FB page: https://texastimetravel.com/directory/roy-orbison-museum/       

The Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum, in North Tonawanda, NY is one of a kind! Operated by the Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier, is a premier national historic site and community resource for family recreation. Through educational, cultural, and recreational programming, visitors will experience the places, people, stories, and artifacts associated with the production of carousels, band organs, and amusement devices. The Allan Herschell Company, founded in North Tonawanda, New York, was the fourth in a series of companies in the community which manufactured carousels and other amusement park rides. It was Allan Herschell who first came up with the idea of a carrousel museum! It’s been over 46 years since the concept of a carrousel museum in North Tonawanda was initiated. 10 people sat around a table in the Carnegie Art Center to discuss the possibility of bringing a carrousel back to North Tonawanda, a city in which more hand carved carrousels were produced than the total of all other US cities that created them. One of the special exhibits, is the carving floor of the Allan Herschell Company. It's where carousel animals originally began to take shape. Carvers worked from large line drawings of animals. First, the sketch was traced onto basswood or poplar. After the carvers finished the details, the parts were then glued together and smoothed before the animal was moved to the paint shop in the next room. In later years, the Allan Herschell Company began to make animals using cast aluminum. Another wonderful exhibit is the “The Jeanette E. Jones Children's Gallery”.  This room was originally the machine shop for the Allan Herschell Company where workers produced the metal parts for carousels and other amusement rides. It is now our children’s space in the museum. Today, the Children’s Gallery holds our Kiddie Carrousel and many interactive activities for families to enjoy when visiting the museum. The space is a festive place to hold a birthday party or baby shower. Check our rentals page for more information! The Museum is perfect for all ages and bring the carrousel beginning and history back to life! Come visit this summer – for more information see us online: https://www.carrouselmuseum.org/  716-693-1885

Crazy Horse Memorial and Military Veterans Since the first blast on the mountain on June 3, 1948 there has been a relationship between the Crazy Horse Memorial and military veterans and especially Native American veterans. First you would have to look at the personal history of one of the founders of the Memorial, Korczak Ziolkowski, a noted sculptor who worked on Mt Rushmore in 1939 and won first place at the Worlds Fair in 1939 for his sculpture of Paderewski. He volunteered at the age of 34 for the Army in 1943 and three days after D-Day landed on Omaha Beach Normandy where he was wounded. The military experience and sacrifices of so many had a profound effect on Korczak and to this day admission to the Memorial is waived for active duty military, Native Americans, Boy Scouts in uniform and local county residents. In 2000 Ruth Ziolkowski approved a new program to allow veterans of the local VA hospital in Hot Springs, SD to work at the Crazy Horse Memorial and Korczak’s Heritage through a compensatory work therapy program. It is a beneficial program for both the veterans and the Crazy Horse Memorial and Korczak’s Heritage and numerous veterans have participated in the program to present date. Another program that started in the local Custer, SD area occurred in 2011 with the new non-profit Operation Black Hills Cabin to say thank you to any 30% minimum Combat Injured veteran from any post-9/11 military operation and his immediate family for a one-week respite in a cabin in Custer free of charge. Crazy Horse Memorial and Korczak’s Heritage have offered waived admission, a meal at the Laughing Water Restaurant, and a bus to base tour to the average 17 families each summer. Since 2011 178 families from 37 states have been guests of the Operation Black Hills Cabin. Since 2015 Terry DeRouchey, also a military veteran, has collected van ride tickets donated by Storytellers each year to be able to take the veteran and his immediate family for a trip of a lifetime to the top of the mountain carving. Thanks to the generosity of Storytellers he has been able to take all combat injured veterans and their families as part of the Operation Black Hills Cabin to the top. Thanks to efforts of Visitor Services staff, groups from Wounded Warriors and Sheepdog Impact organizations had the opportunity to take a trip of a lifetime to the top of the mountain carving the last three years . The tribute to the accomplishments and sacrifices of Native American veterans came about in 2019 when a different Native American veteran was honored each week at Crazy Horse Memorial and where all veterans are recognized. American Indians per capita have had the highest percentage of their people in military service exceeding every American ethnic group. Make sure to visit us online too: https://crazyhorsememorial.org/