“Hometown Teams,” a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit that explores how sports shaped America, opens to the public on March 9, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. in Downtown New Port Richey at 6345 Grand Boulevard with a traditional Pep Rally! The exhibit will be in New port Richey for seven-weeks. This fascinating, multimedia experience, which is free and open to the public, is being brought to New Port Richey by the nonprofit Florida Humanities Council, which partners with community organizations around the state to bring high-quality cultural programs to Floridians and hosted by the Cultural Affairs Committee.
Accompanying this national exhibit at 6345 Grand Boulevard will be special local programs, exhibits and speakers. They will include local sports figures, ex-professional athletes, local historians and more. Hometown Teams explores the many roles that sports play in American society. Hometown Teams are more than just games, they shape our lives and unite us and celebrate who we are as Americans. We play on ball fields and sandlots, on courts and on ice, in parks and playgrounds, even in the street. What has occurred in our hometowns is nothing less than a sports revolution!
To highlight how sports have shaped the local New Port Richey area, the City of New Port Richey Parks and Recreation Department is coordinating with the Cultural Affairs Committee, the New Port Richey Library, the West Pasco Historical Society and the Friends of the Hacienda for a series of free lectures and exhibits to be presented alongside the Smithsonian Museum Hometown Teams exhibit.
Date Time Speaker Subject
03/13 1:00 p.m. Bob Langford West Pasco Historical Society
03/14 1:00 p.m. Ryan Benjamin & Dan Goodspeed Bucs Super Bowl team members
03/16 1:00 p.m. Jeff Miller & Brian Schmit New Port Richey Sports History
03/16 2:00 p.m. Matt Roza Sports Trivia with Prizes
03/20 11:00 a.m. Dewey Mitchell Former Olympian
03/23 11:00 a.m. Mike Carlson Sports Photographer
03/23 12:00 p.m. Youth Advisory Board Panel Discussion
03/23 2:00pm Miss Jessica Children’s Sports Story Time
04/13 2:00pm NPR Library Free sports Movie at the Library
There will also be one room dedicated to memorabilia from Gulf High School. Visitors will be able to see year books from various years, sport uniforms, mascots, sports photographs, cheerleader group shots and much more from as far back as 1925.
The public is invited to join the Grand Opening festivities on March 9th at 10:30 a.m. There will be a Pep Rally celebrating the arrival of the Smithsonian Museum with Gulf Junior High School, Gulf High School Alumni, students, coaches and athletes attending. Immediately following the Grand Opening Pep Rally, visitors will be welcomed into the exhibit for the first time!
In addition to New Port Richey “Hometown Teams” travels to Miami, Leesburg, Sulphur Springs, Brooksville and Milton through 2019. It is part of the Smithsonian’s “Museum on Main Street” program. State humanities councils, affiliates of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and sponsors fund tours of the exhibit to towns in their states.