(Featured photo of Peter Excho standing in front of Pexcho’s American Dime Museum’s newest exhibit. Photo by Mike Adams)
A life-size T. rex skeleton.
It sounds impressive, but that’s been done already. There are other fossilized remains of the terrible lizard on display at other museums in the country.
But a two-headed T. rex, well, that’s something you’ll only find at Pexcho’s American Dime Museum.
And the first weekend of March, people of all ages can enjoy the newest addition as well as view the largest sideshow Pexcho’s has ever brought to the area.
“I am super excited about this,” said Peter Excho, the owner of the museum of oddities and curiosities on Sixth Street, who carries on a tradition that started with showman P.T. Barnum. “We’re going to have performers from all over America and Canada.”
The T. rex exhibit is massive. One skull alone stands around 4-foot-6-inches tall and the body is 40 feet long. The skeleton is a replica or a female or a juvenile meaning it’s not the largest of the species, he said.
For this weekend, Excho has moved out all of the other exhibits so this one can take center stage.
Excho has a backstory for the dinosaur model to tell for years to come. A farmer named Darrell Wilson found it at the base of the Rocky Mountains, Excho said. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it. `
The model is based on the real T. rex that was in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for many years until the dinosaur exhibit was revamped a few years ago to show it fighting a triceratops. It took Excho and his crew which includes his three children, who pushed to get the dinosaur, 51 weeks to assemble it.
The dime museum opened about eight years ago, and Excho brought in sideshow performers on a regular basis prior to the pandemic, but COVID curtailed those activities. This could be the beginning of the return.
Performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday, March 1 and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday. There are also VIP dining experiences; some of which have already sold out.
Performers include John Red Stuart (the world’s oldest sword swallower), Hot Todd Lincoln, The Lizzard Man and Theija the Violinist.
Excho said the afternoon performance is appropriate for all ages; however, the evening shows are more appropriate for those who are 18 and older. Many sideshow performers do feats that can be dangerous for the untrained. It’s definitely the “don’t try this at home” type of stuff, he said.
For tickets, visit here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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