An exhibit for the weekend warrior: sports at Highlands
Dec. 30—ASHLAND — Not everyone can be a pro football player. That's why there are other sports that are a bit less aggressive and more accessible to the average person.
An exhibit on the mezzanine at the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center takes a look at some of those sports in the exhibit "Weekend Warriors: Sports for the Pro or Casual Player," curator Heather Whitman said.
"This exhibit was the idea of a friend of mine who also volunteers at the museum, Tyson Conrad," she said. "He wanted to do an exhibit featuring sports that the casual player can also enjoy, without necessarily being on a team."
Not only are teams not necessary to enjoy play, these sports can be enjoyed occasionally.
The exhibit examines the history of golf, bowling, darts, tennis and trapshooting; it also delves into some of the interesting facts about the sports.
"Golf began as a banned sport in 1700s Scotland. German monks added pins to bowling. Darts started out as something for bored soldiers to pass the time with," Whitman said. "Tennis was a sport embraced by Kings. Trapshooting was invented to practice a hunter's shooting skills during the off season."
The exhibit also includes local memorabilia from the sports, she said.
For example, Blue Ribbon Lanes is represented, the city's best-known bowling alley for years, operating from 1959 to 2019.
Golf clubs belonging to Dr. Charles H. Parsons, founder of the former C.H. Parsons Department Store, dating to the 1940s also are displayed. Clubs dating to the 1920s and owned by Paul G. Blazer, founder of Ashland Oil and Refining Co., are included in the exhibit.
Items from the Jude Sexton family revolving around trap shooting are on loan to the museum for the exhibit.
Sexton (1934-2019) competed in trap shooting most of his life. He and his family often competed at hilltop shoots. His daughter, Angelia Sexton Lykins, won the awards that are part of the display; she has 8,000 singles and 9,400 handicap registered in the Amateur Trapshooting Association.
The exhibit will continue through April.
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