By Craig Horleman

DOVER — Tracey Sell has a lifelong love of agriculture.

“Growing up, my grandfather had a very small farm (in Millsboro), and the whole family would pitch in and help. I remember going down one year and helping them dig up some potatoes, which was just a hoot for me. I just always loved going down and living the rural life,” she said.

Now, as executive director of the nearly 44-year-old Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village, she gets to experience that every day.

Taking the reins from Carolyn Claypoole in November 2023, Ms. Sell, 24, has jumped in feet first, expanding the Dover facility and sprucing up existing exhibits.

A Magnolia native and Caesar Rodney High School graduate, she was the first agriscience teacher at Postlethwait Middle School in Camden for two-and-a-half years before taking the helm of the museum.

“I’ve always been interested in the agriculture industry. Even in high school, I was always into my animal science courses, and I majored in animal science, as well as agriculture (at the University of Delaware),” she said. “So, I’ve always loved the ag industry. It’s really my bread and butter. It’s my passion.”

Therefore, when this position became available, she jumped at the chance.

“There are very few ag positions that are open right now that are hands-on, and that’s kind of what I was looking for. ‘Executive director’ might not sound hands-on, but with our staff and our status as a nonprofit, we very much get into everything together. It’s really based on a teamwork approach,” she said.

Ms. Sell added that she thinks the facility, next to Delaware State University, has much to offer.

“This is such a unique location. We have 10 acres and a whole village to explore. And, when you just see people come into the building, their faces light up. At first, people say, ‘Oh, that’s the Delaware Ag Museum. You’ve got to be a farmer to go there or be in 4-H, which is absolutely not true,” she said.

“It’s a place for everyone to come and explore. And we have so much more than meets the eye. You look at a red building on the outside. But, after you come through the doors and walk outside into our village, people are shocked at us having 10-plus village buildings outside to explore and the great industry information that you get inside from the history and current information.”

A recent addition to the grounds has been eight life-size fiberglass farm animals in front of the complex.

Bonnie McCann, a member of the museum’s executive board, was instrumental in getting donations and procuring the structures, which have been in a fenced-in area for about a month.

Museum officials also hope the display, as well as forthcoming electric signs, will give the location better visibility.

“They have worked out real well,” Ms. McCann said. “People have been loving (the display). We’ve had people stop specifically just to see the animals. So, I have been pleased with that.”

To name the animals, the museum has been holding a contest, in which visitors have been dropping suggestions in a basket or contributing names on its Facebook page.

Dinner fundraiser

The contest winners will be announced during the museum’s farm-to-table dinner June 1 from 5-7:30.

The evening will include silent and live auctions; door prizes; appetizers, dinner and dessert; and beer and wine. Mountaire Farms has donated 200 chicken breasts for the occasion.

Guests may register at agriculturalmuseum.org/farm-to-table-2024.

The dinner will be one of the main fundraisers for the improvements going on at the museum.

Exhibits aplenty

The Delaware Agricultural Museum’s current exhibit is sponsored by the Delaware Electric Cooperative and titled “Then, One Day the Lights Came On.” It tells how rural Delaware was electrified in the 1930s, as part of the development of the Rural Electrification Association.

Additionally, the museum is getting help from the Smithsonian Institution to beef up its transportation and produce displays.

The Dover facility is one of six museums in the country partnering with the Smithsonian.

“They have something called MOMS — Museum on Main Street. It’s a partnership with small museums because the Smithsonian is trying to support, all across the country, many museums. So, they can give us a template to work with,” Ms. Sell said.

“We’re connecting Delaware’s uniqueness with the country at large, so it makes it more relatable to anyone who comes into the museum. We do get out-of-staters quite frequently, especially maybe going down to the beach from even New York sometimes. They just want to stop and see what’s going on.

“The Smithsonian gives us literature, and then, we can interject our local information into it. And so, we’re going to have beautiful panels on metal stands, and it’s just going to make it a lot more modern and consistent with the current standards.”

The upgrades to the produce and transportation collections should be completed by the end of June, Ms. Sell said.

“We have a horsepower exhibit. But then, we have our tractor exhibit, and so, with the produce, we thought it would be interesting to explain how everything comes together — not just how do you grow watermelons? But it’s like, how do you get the watermelon from point A to point B, so you can sell it? So, we’re tying the whole industry together,” she said.

Employees are also making upgrades to the dairy exhibition, which features bottles from almost every dairy that has existed in Delaware.

Meeting spaces

Another facet of the museum’s face-lift is the meeting spaces, including the Bella Vista venue for weddings, receptions, birthday parties, reunions and corporate retreats.

By early next year, there will be a separate entrance for event attendees, as well as restrooms and more.

“We will also have a large warming kitchen. So, that will be great for the caterers, which would go a long way to bringing more events and caterers being comfortable coming in here,” Ms. McCann said.

“So, there will also be a classroom, a bridal ready room, new bathrooms, a groom’s room and the warming kitchen. They’ve taken a whole section, which nobody ever went in, and redid it. We’ve reworked everything, so we could expand, and we’ll have a hallway going back and forth (to the museum). It will connect the front to the back and then, also, side to side. So, it just kind of makes everything flow.”

Also making everything flow is the volunteers who guide tours, answer questions and keep everything moving on a day-to-day basis. There is a team of 20 volunteers, but more are always welcome.

“We have mostly retired people who help us out. They are spending their time here, and we’re very appreciative that they’re willing to give a lot of time to us. But their vacation time is super important, too. So, I think it’s important to build your numbers, just so you can cover those overlaps and things like that,” Ms. Sell said.

For information on volunteering, sponsorships or events, visit agriculturalmuseum.org or call 302-734-1618.

The Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village is at 866 N. Dupont Highway.