ELBERTA - Ask any adults with a few years on them and they will tell you there's something to be said for the ability to scramble under a table with cat-like quickness and agility. The same can be said for a pair of sharp eyes.

Couple those physical attributes with youthful enthusiasm and you'll understand why Brandon Williams, 9, spends a lot of his time on the floor at the Baldwin County Heritage Museum in Elberta. He's looking for wood beetle holes under tables and chairs.

According to the Elsanor School fourth grader, the big three bugs he's scouring for are wood beetles, cockroaches and spiders. He's pretty blunt about what takes place when he finds, say, a cockroach in a piece of furniture that has been given to the museum.

"Normally they put out the poison and stuff and it just dies," he said.

But this isn't just a story about a boy and bugs. The boy on the floor is in on the ground floor of a new program at Baldwin County Heritage Museum. Brandon, you see, is a junior curator.

"I get to work with the museum stuff, clean it up and make it look nicer," he said recently during an interview at the museum.

He keeps a notebook on the bug evidence he finds. For example, he points to an entry in his notebook on such and such date where he wrote about a "child's rocking chair in the (John) Leech Room" that had three spots on it where wood beetle holes were found.

"Like a nail hole," is the way Brandon describes evidence of a wood beetle.

"You can find a lot of holes under there," he said of a particular table on display in the Leech Room.

Once Brandon finds and logs a wood beetle hole, camphor oil is put on the site.

"He thoroughly checks," said Brandon's grandmother, Coletta Bailey, who works with and cleans textiles on display in the museum.

Brandon started coming to the museum with her and eventually found his penchant for bug holes. Now, once every week or two, he gives the wood items in the museum the once over and, if he finds signs of bug infestation, lists what kind it is and which room of the museum it's in.

"He loves history," said Coletta, noting Brandon has been in all the museums from Mobile to Escambia County, Fla., and to the Smithsonian and Mount Vernon as well.

So, would he like to become a museum curator one day?

"Maybe," Brandon said, but was quick to point out he has other interests as well, including airplane mechanic, archaeologist and scientist.

"My dad works on airplanes," he said. Brandon is the son of Rich and Michelle Williams. "Kita" is his Alaskan malamute.

"There's nothing I'd rather have than young people," said Becky Holliday, education director and corresponding secretary for Baldwin County Heritage Museum Association Inc.

"We really look forward to putting this program together."

Becky eventually hopes to have 50 to 100 junior curators volunteering on the five-acres that encompass the museum's buildings and artifacts. With such a number of junior curators, she hopes to be able to keep a few working at the museum when they get older.

Area children can apply for the Junior Curator Program at Baldwin County Heritage Museum after September 1. Children must have a B-average or above, have excellent conduct marks in school, and be recommended by two teachers. Children can apply from anywhere in Baldwin County.

"We encourage this being a parent-child activity," said Becky of the Junior Curator Program.

Asked what the most interesting items in the museum are for him personally, Brandon said the spinning wheels and "old-fashioned irons." What would he most like to see on display in the museum? What else would a 9-year-old boy say? Guns.

"Probably some of the old rifles they used in some of the wars," he said.

TOO IMPORTANT TO LOSE

Becky said children like Brandon will grow up to be the county commissioners, mayors and bank presidents of tomorrow. Contact with the history and heritage of Baldwin County through the museum will hopefully "keep Baldwin County uppermost in their hearts."

She is quick to point out that the museum on U.S. Highway 98 in Elberta is a county museum that entails everything from the county's farming heritage to the Greek enclave in Malbis; timber in the north end to fishing in the south end and everything in between. All these various segments of county heritage need to be represented in the museum through their costumes, histories, recipes, folklore and such.

"This is too important to lose. It's literally our foundation," she said.

At present the museum is closed to the public to make it handicapped accessible and more user friendly. A "major housekeeping event" is going on inside that includes a history walk of Baldwin County in celebration of the county's upcoming 200th anniversary and an interactive education program with the schools of Baldwin County.

"Teachers anywhere in this county can call this museum and say this is what my class is doing and what we need illustrated and what can we work together and do," Becky said.

"I desperately need volunteers," everything from people who can use a cleaning rag to serving as a host or hostess. Actually, she needs 300 volunteers who agree to come in once a month for four hours.

A membership drive is currently underway at the museum. Individual memberships are $10 annually and $15 for families. Memberships help with such items as a housekeeper and groundskeeper, the building fund and education. A Friend of the museum gives $50 annually and a Sustaining contribution is $100. Other categories of support are Benefactor ($5,000 or more), Patron ($1,000 or more), and Supporting ($500 or more).