History museum to celebrate North Carolina sports Saturday

The N.C. Museum of History has a great event coming up this weekend that celebrates sports in North Carolina.

The event shows how sports and athletes have changed over the years and also highlights opportunities to play sports in the state.

"I'm trying to remind kids how things have changed and how they've stayed the same," said Nancy Pennington, the museum's associate curator of programming.

And, she said, "I want to emphasize that sports is something everybody can do."

Celebrate North Carolina Sports is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, at the downtown Raleigh museum. Parking and admission is free. Visitors will be able to see famous NASCAR stock cars, watch the Bouncing Bulldogs jump rope team, talk to athletes and more. There will be games and hands-on activities inside the museum and outside on the Bicentennial Plaza.

Other participants include Carolina Roller Girls, Ray Price Harley Davidson, Special Olympics, RDU Sting Semi-Professional Women’s Basketball, Raleigh Rugby Football Club, Carolina Hurricanes and Raleigh Cheer Extreme All Stars Gym. Cookbook author Linda Watson will feature healthy tailgating recipes.

North Carolina is the home of putt putt, Pennington tells me, so there will be a three-hole putt putt golf course, along with a basketball free throw contest, among other activities. Kids can color sport cards that feature a woman tennis player from the 1900s in a full-length dress or a basketball player from 1911, for example.

The day also highlights one of my family's favorite parts of the history museum - the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame. When my older daughter was little, she just enjoyed looking at the pictures and pressing the buttons. Now that she's older and loves all things sports, she enjoys learning all about the athletes. In the hall, there will be a scavenger hunt for kids with the opportunity to win a prize.