White River Junction’s cabinet-of-curiosity-style Main Street Museum is known for its unusual offerings — taxidermied animals, bizarre toys, frankly unrecognizable “material culture,” that sort of thing.

The place also has frequent entertainments such as the upcoming 6th Annual Russian Avant-Garde exhibit with potluck dinner. (Think beet-basil-infused vodka!)

What the MSM is not noted for is HIV testing. That all changes today. From 4 to 7, all comers can get an anonymous, confidential test in the museum’s Reading Room. Why? Perhaps because, according to a recent MSM newsletter, a million people in the U.S. have the virus, and one in five is unaware of it.

“Even if you’re sure you’re negative, get tested. I do!” chirps museum proprietor David Fairbanks Ford. But don’t just take his word for it. Apparently Pope Francis has sanctioned it.

“It’s now official,” vows the newsletter. “The Pope says that you should all get tested at the Main Street Museum.”

Who’s gonna argue with that?

Image courtesy of the Main Street Museum.

Pamela Polston is a contributing arts and culture writer and editor. She cofounded Seven Days in 1995 with Paula Routly and served as arts editor, associate publisher and writer. Her distinctive arts journalism earned numerous awards from the Vermont Press Association, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the New England Newspaper & Press Association. Pamela was inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2021, the Vermont Arts Council presented her with the Walter Cerf...