The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum will be opening their doors for a Christmas open house on Friday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 8. The museum will be completely decorated for the season as people explore the different themed rooms throughout the museum.

“We have all kinds of great activities going on,” Tammy St. Pierre, PPHM retail operations coordinator, said. “We’ll have role players in Pioneer Town, entertainers in the Derrick Room, crafts for kids in the basement, the Merry Fiddlers come and perform and we will have Santa here in [the] Hazlewood [Lecture Hall].”

With all of the activities people can participate in, St. Pierre said this is a great thing for families to attend, especially since it is free to anyone who wants to explore the completely decorated museum.

“Seeing all the people that come is the best part for me,” St. Pierre said. “When we’ve got people waiting in line to come in the museum, it’s very exciting to have it really come alive like it does with that many people. In the two days, we’ll usually see about 5,000 people in that seven and a half hours.”

The people who work at the museum say they love the Christmas open house because they enjoy seeing the museum full of people and families.

“Throughout the year, of all the things we do, everything is geared towards either the adults or the kids, whereas this is very much geared towards families. It’s fun just watching families go around and experience the museum and see the decorations, choirs, crafts, cookies and everything else,” Buster Ratliff, PPHM operations coordinator, said.

The Christmas open house is an event that the museum has put on for more than 30 years and many of the workers have had the chance to experience it for many years. Becky Livingston, a PPHM special projects coordinator, has worked at the museum for 14 years and said her favorite part about the open house is seeing all the decorations.

“I love the museum decorated,” Livingston said. “I also love that it’s free because it gives people an opportunity to come visit, who might not otherwise have that opportunity.”

Livingston said since the event is non-commercial, it’s more about the true spirit of Christmas than some other things might be.

“It’s totally something you can do and enjoy as a family and its perfect for people of all ages,” Livingston said.

People can explore the decorated museum from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.