Union City, Tenn.— Discovery Park of America will mount a one-of-a-kind exhibit and silent auction of artifacts and memorabilia at the 2025 Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Discovery Awards. The gala and fundraiser will be held Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the museum and heritage park.
The recipients of the 2025 Discovery Awards are Lt. Col. Bernard House, Dr. Nassar Nassar, Betty Ann Tanner and Darryl Worley.
Included in the silent auction will be items such as a working Buster Brown merry-go-round from Burnett’s Shoes in Dyersburg, vintage pedal cars that have been fully restored, Reelfoot Lake memorabilia, a Stromberg-Voisinet banjo, a taxidermy white squirrel, vintage Coca-Cola artifacts, a collection of campaign buttons and more.
“I think the item many are going to be bidding on is a large antique postage box with little brass doors,” said Discovery Park’s director of development, Bethany Brock. “Whether guests get to take one of these rare artifacts home or not, I think they are going to be fascinated by this and some of the other items that will be on display and for bid.”
New this year, artifacts and memorabilia will also be on display as centerpieces at each table. Items for the exhibit and silent auction were selected by a committee at Discovery Park that included the senior director of exhibits and collections, Jennifer Wildes.
“By rehoming these items, the museum is keeping with best practices to periodically evaluate and retain a manageable collection to ensure that we can properly care for, store and display the artifacts within it as new items continue to come into our possession,” said Wildes. Funds generated from the auction will be used to grow and care for artifacts in Discovery Park’s permanent collection.
Cocktail entertainment will be provided by the Jackson Symphony, and dinner entertainment will be provided by Clark Beckham from season 14 of American Idol. The master of ceremonies will be Sonya Gavankar-McKay, senior director at Axiom Space, Earth’s first commercial space station company.
Other than silent auction revenue, all funds raised at the gala go to the Kirkland Scholarship Fund. Thanks to the Kirkland Scholarship, students from all K-12 schools where 50% of students qualify for free or reduced lunches receive scholarships that cover 100% of the ticket price to visit Discovery Park.
A limited number of tickets to the 2025 Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Discovery Awards are still available at discoveryparkofamerica.com/
Discovery Park staff members Jennifer Wildes, Jade Walsh and Zachary Rea review a selection of the artifacts and memorabilia chosen for exhibit and silent auction at the museum’s upcoming gala and fundraiser.