If you ever wanted to get up close and personal with a full-sized grizzly or mountain lion, the Museum at Central School has you covered.

“We’ve got a mountain lion and grizzly that are part of the ‘Wild Montana’ exhibit that we’re beginning to put together,” Gil Jordan, executive director, said.

 Along with these displays, the building is beautifully decked out with Christmas trees and other holiday finery in keeping with the season. Jordan said the museum offers much to provide a break from holiday madness or an educational outing in January.

“Most people interested in history could spend days here,” he said.

Jordan especially recommends a preview of “Wild Montana.” Now in the first stages of development, the exhibit presents wildlife, flora, fauna, geologic history and the environment of Northwest Montana.

“It’s our first foray into natural history,” Jordan said.

Inspiration for “Wild Montana” came four years ago with the long-term loan of a private collection of 50 birds and small mammals. Two other families stepped forward to loan the full-sized grizzly and mountain lion mounts that the museum placed in professionally-prepared habitat displays.

“The Cinnabar Foundation gave us money for this and matching funds came from members,” he said.

The mountain lion reposing on a limb greets visitors at the end of the entrance hall. It’s on loan from Jack Hinkle, formerly of Creston, who harvested the lion north of Marion in 1997.

Now located in the American Indian exhibit, the new grizzly display features a bear mount loaned by Maurice and Peggy Eddie.

“They had this in storage and wanted to get it out where people could see it,” Jordan said.

Information included with the bear display explains that the hump on the shoulders and 4- to 5-inch claws distinguish the animal as a grizzly rather than a black bear. Its age is estimated at 20 to 22 years old based on the teeth and many battle scars.

Plans for “Wild Montana” reflect the museum’s desire to present exhibits that engage the public and put history in context, Jordan said.

Another evolving exhibit, “Flathead Valley History,” continues that approach. Jordan provided a tour of the area now under construction that begins with a very special red dress worn by little Margaret Duffy on Christmas Eve of 1891.

Jordan explained that Duffy as a 3-year-old put on that exact dress at midnight to attend a party after traveling with her family 120 miles by train, stagecoach and then steamboat from Missoula to Kalispell.

The dress and its history provide an engaging start to a new curving wall that draws the visitor into the Flathead Valley History exhibit.

“This is the family wall beginning in the 1880s,”  Jordan said.

With pictures and individual stories, the wall features Charles and Ida Atteberry (1882), Sarah Francis Albritton King (1889), James K. Stahl and sons (1884), Estella Loveall Mateka (1887), James Coram (1891), Rev. George McVey Fisher (1886), Arthur Hollensteiner (1892), Wartz homestead (1916-17) and Dorothy (Jordan) Brading (1907).

“These were the first white settlers that arrived and stayed in the Flathead Valley,” he said.

The exhibit also gives a close-up view of a huge piston and boiler of the steamer Oakes that sank in a perilous attempt to navigate the North Fork of the Flathead River to reach coal fields. Jordan said moving the piston into place required Flathead Concrete’s boom truck, a crew of strong men and an engine-lifting stand.

“We think it weighs about 2,000 pounds,” he said.

Beyond the steamer parts, the museum has incorporated a good-sized chunk of the Old Steel Bridge into the decor. Jordan has plans for a giant picture of the bridge.

“They’ll see it as it was before it was torn down,” he said.

Seniors may particularly enjoy a new temporary exhibit that provides a peek back at the Flathead in the roaring ’20s. Located just off the entrance hall, the display brings the era to life through fun artifacts such as flapper dresses, purses, household utensils and antique photographs by E.B. Gilliland, who apprenticed to famed photographer T.J. Hileman.

Jordan credits Vi Carlson with making the exhibit possible.

“Many of the clothes and artifacts came from her collection,” Jordan said.

People may visit the museum Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Adults pay $5 and seniors pay $4 for admission.

For more information, call 756-8381 or consult the Web site www.yourmuseum.org.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.