The Maridon Museum will be holding its second annual Hina-matsuri (doll festival) children's program at 11 a.m. March 7 at the museum, 322 N. McKean St.

Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School world cultures/Japanese language teacher Dixie Lipnichan will facilitate the interactive program. Students in the Japanese Club at A-C Valley will assist. The students in this club assembled the craft kits for the children attending this event.

Taking place on March 3 in Japan, Hina-matsuri celebrates the health and happiness of girls. Although the holiday is also known as Girl's Day, the activities organized for this Maridon program are suitable for both boys and girls.

Children will have a special viewing of the Maridon Museum's hina display, sing the hina song, participate in a mini-tea ceremony and create a miniature doll display. The highlight of the event will be the unveiling of a historic friendship doll, donated to the Maridon by Lorry Donaldson, a local doll collector.

The doll is an Effanbee Friday's Child of the Day By Day Series from the late 1970s. The doll is named "Miss Mary" in honor of museum founder, the late Mary Hulton Phillips.

This year the Maridon will be initiating a modern day doll exchange.

In May, a friendship ambassador doll will be sent to Japan, a country that has given the museum various forms of art including netsuke and ivory sculptures, as part of the museum's fifth year anniversary celebration. Children attending the Hina-matsuri event will be able to sign the friendship book that will accompany the doll.

The March 7 event is for children ages 4 to 10. Admission is free, but reservations are required as space is limited. Children must be accompanied by an adult. To reserve a space, call the Maridon at 724-282-0123.

The Hina display will be up through the end of April for the public to view. Anyone visiting the museum during this time will also have an opportunity to sign the friendship book that will accompany the doll to Japan.