The Greene County Historical Society and Jefferson Matters: Main Street are teaming up for the first of many programs ahead of the arrival of the Smithsonian Institute’s traveling exhibit “Hometown Teams.”

The kick-off program will feature two local sports collectors, Kevin Richards and Tom Powers, at the Greene County Historical Museum Sunday at 2pm. Richards, who has been teaching art in elementary and middle school for 29-years, and Powers, who is a retired teacher of 38-years, both started collecting sports memorabilia in the 1980s. They even go to national sports shows to buy and sell items. Their collections contain hundreds of autographed baseballs, bobblehead dolls, photographs, artwork, jerseys, caps and more.

The program is the first to jump start the “Hometown Teams” exhibit that is scheduled to be at the museum from August 11th through September 23rd. There will be other programs, including: Dan Gable, who is serving as the honorary chair of the Smithsonian exhibit; sports photography; and of course, RAGBRAI. A rotation of sports displays is currently happening at the Masonic Lodge in Jefferson as well.

Tomorrow’s program is free and open to the public.