On Oct. 9, Central’s Museum of Culture & Environment hosted a special event to commemorate five years of service to the university and to the community. It also celebrated the opening of the museum’s newest exhibit, Migration Now, which is displayed alongside the museum’s Interstate 90 exhibit.

The event featured speakers such as Museum director Mark Auslander and Central President James Gaudino. The speakers talked about the importance of the museum.

Gaudino called the museum a fantastic facility. He emphasized how quickly the museum has grown.

“This space has really become an interdisciplinary crossroads of this university,” Gaudino said. “It usually takes a long time to build up that kind of presence on a campus, and [the museum has] done it remarkably fast.”

The sizable crowd, which appeared for the event, seemed to enjoy it. Alex Dimas, a man who brought his young boy to the event, said that he enjoyed the event.

“It’s pretty neat,” Dimas said. “It’s pretty fun.”

Dimas’ son ran around the Interstate 90 exhibit, running up and down the ramp with several other small children. His son went into the tunnels and began to play.

“He’s having a blast,” Dimas said.

The event also featured a live performance of a jazz combo from Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC), complimentary food and dancing. A few couples danced to the Latin flavored jazz in a designated space a few feet from the combo. Others talked and laughed around tall tables with white tablecloths as balloons hovered above them.

The jazz combo included two Central alumni, David Blink and Bart Roderick on trumpet and piano, respectively. The combo also featured saxophonist Garrett Bobcock, a Central transfer student from YVCC.

Blink said that they were invited when a former YVCC combo member, Jeremy Pool, thought of them. Blink said that Pool currently works for the Museum of Culture & Environment.

Bobcock, who just announced his major in anthropology, said that he enjoyed performing at the event.

“I thought it was kind of funny,” Bobcock said. “I heard about the gig from David Blink, and I had no idea it was going to be here. It was a big surprise to see all of my professors from classes.”