Over 600 people flocked to the Catalina Island Museum's annual Open House at the Inn on Mt. Ada on Monday, December 3 helping to raise close to $9000 for the museum's mission to collect, preserve and share Catalina history with the island's residents and visitors.

"We're so grateful to the dozens of volunteers that help us with this event," enthused museum director Stacey Otte.  Volunteers bake hundreds of cookies, share the history of the former Wrigley mansion, brew home-made wassail and more.  "There simply would be no open house without all of our great volunteers!" said Otte.  "And I think the fact that attendance has held steady in the low 600s shows the great enthusiasm our visitors and community have for this event."

The annual Open House at Mt. Ada is the only function that is open to the general public and has served as the community's kick-off to the holiday season for over 25 years.  Each year the Inn allows the museum to raffle off a night's stay at the Inn which provides the majority of the event's earnings.  This year's room winners included were local resident and business owner Beverly Brisacher.  Other winners were J.P. Montero, Robert Krauch, Pauline Tedford, Cheryl Hernandez and Linda Wheelan.

Many thanks are due to everyone who bought raffle tickets and the many businesses that provided great gift raffle prizes, contributing the success of the event.

The Museum is located on the ground floor of the Casino Building and is open 7 days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information visit www.CatalinaMuseum.org