Families find value, fun with available experience passes

Fun, educational and affordable family entertainment is hard to find for Bonnie Mast and her three kids. 

Experience passes from Elkhart Public Library offer families opportunities to visit local attractions. Families like Bonnie’s get access to Potawatomi Zoo, Midwest Museum of American Art, South Bend attractions, Wellfield Botanic Gardens and the Ruthmere Museum campus. Online reservations can be made anytime through the library’s “MuseumKey” service. 

“We love that passes are available,” Bonnie says. “I’m always telling friends about it, they don’t know it’s available to them. We’re glad that it’s something the library does.” 

In addition, a pass for Ox Bow County Park is available for checkout in person at each library location. 

Bonnie took the family to the zoo for a last-minute trip, arriving just an hour before it closed.  

“I wouldn’t have paid for the last hour of the day but being able to pop in, we could stay as long as we could without feeling like it was a big investment,” she says.  

The passes offer flexibility, too, she says. As a homeschool field trip she took the kids to Ruthmere. Walking through the historic home brought the history from the books they’ve read to life. 

“I was surprised how excited they were about the history of Ruthmere. It fit with some of the American Girl books they’ve been reading that took place in the same period as when the house was built,” she says. 

Other parents, like Ashley Shearer, want to break the routine of a trip to a doctor appointment at Memorial Hospital for her son, 4-year-old Lux Deweese. 

Reserving passes for Potawatomi Zoo made it a different, exciting experience. 

“We enjoyed it so much,” says Ashley. “It brightened our day while we were already out there. Getting to go to the zoo after the doctor was a great time.” 

For others, like Rebecca Poff, it offers opportunities to visit new places. She and her friend Heidi broke out of their routine to explore the Midwest Museum of American Art. 

“We normally go to the Elkhart County Historical Museum, but Heidi wanted to see a different museum,” Rebecca says. 

“Heidi actually told me about the passes,” she says. “And the staff helped me put it on my phone and all I had to do was show (the museum staff) the ticket on my phone. Admission might only be $5 or $10 to get in but it helps people who might need that money for something else.” 

Elizabeth Craig says the passes offer a great value for her family. 

“It saves a lot of money with our four kids,” she says. “There are some things that we wouldn’t be able to do if it wasn’t for that.” 

Rebecca and Elizabeth say they also use the Ox Bow County Park pass. 

The process of booking the passes through MuseumKey is simple, too, parents say. 

“We found MuseumKey very easy. We were able to sign up the night before, spur of the moment, no issues,” says Ashley. “We were able to do more things at the zoo, like the train ride and see the baby giraffes, since we didn’t have to buy admission.” 

Bonnie says she is already planning her family’s next outing. 

“I think the art museum is the next one on our list,” she says. 

A library card is needed to reserve an experience pass. Register for a card here and reserve an experience pass by clicking this link.