BETHEL — On Saturday, Sept. 26, the Bethel Historical Society will offer free admission as it participates in the fifth annual Museum Day presented by Smithsonian magazine.

A celebration of culture, learning and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian’s Museum Day emulates the free admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s properties in Washington, D.C.

The Bethel Historical Society will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no admission charge to the society’s O’Neil Robinson House; and for free admission to the Dr. Moses Mason House Museum, attendees need only present a Museum Day admission card to the guide at the museum. Visit www.smithsonian.com/museumday to download the card or find it in the September 2009 issue of Smithsonian.

Each card provides museum access for two people, with one admission card per household.

At 2 p.m. in anticipation of a ski exhibit opening in November, Scott Andrews, a Portland-based ski journalist and board member of the Ski Museum of Maine, will present a free illustrated talk on the history of skiing in Maine, from its origins as basic winter transportation in Aroostook County’s Swedish Settlement to the present.

For more information, call 824-2908 or (800) 824-2910; or send an e-mail to [email protected]; or visit www.bethelhistorical.org.