The Conrad Transportation and Historical Museum, which is already open, is planning a grand opening for Aug. 31.

It will take place from 7-9 p.m., of course, at the museum located on the corner of 402 S. Virginia.

The museum grand opening and exhibit premier will feature a wine and hors d’ oeuvres reception (for a nominal fee) where viewers can take a sneak peek at “Key Ingredients: America by Food” which will be showing Sept. 3 through Oct. 13 and “Montana by Food: A Taste of the Past.”

There will also be highlights of local agricultural history and the telling of how transportation helped settle the west.

The museum, now getting into a full swing of operation, has events planned out all through the month of September and into the first part of November.

Local participation is taking place for the Key Ingredients exhibit with local restaurants having a red and white checkered box so you can vote for your favorite menu item each time you eat.

This featured exhibition was created by the Museum on Main Street, which is a division of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Key Ingredients: America by Food, explains the little known, the everyday, and the obvious through an entertaining and informative overview of our country’s regional cooking and eating traditions.

The exhibition schedule will be in Conrad for regular viewing Sept. 3 to Oct. 13. Visitors will be able to explore the local food history of the Golden Triangle of different ethnic cultures including the Blackfeet, Norwegians, Belgians and Hutterites and you can learn more about the Whoop-Up Trail from the museum’s permanent exhibit.

Some of the planned upcoming events of the Historical Society include a museum, dinner, and movie night.

On Sept. 9, you can visit the museum, go to the Home Café for a special dinner and then go to the Orpheum Theatre for reserved balcony seating for the 7 p.m. show. Call 278-0178 or 278-5922 for more information on this event.

Other events plan for school art programs to exhibit students’ artwork, the photographic images of Cindy Kittredge, which will be at the library on Sept. 11 to,  “A Taste of Conrad,” where you can sample the cooking of Pondera County’s various cultures at the museum on Sept. 14.

For a complete schedule of museum events, come to the grand opening on Aug. 31 and pick up an events calendar.