FERRIDAY— If it’s always darkest before the dawn, then Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler believes dawn has arrived for the Delta Music Museum.

Schedler spoke to members of the Ferriday Rotary Club Thursday afternoon about 17 Louisiana museums that fall under his jurisdiction for funding and maintenance.

Last year, the Delta Music Museum was one of 15 museums in danger of being shut down because of state budget cuts.

In July, budget constraints reduced the museum’s operating hours from Monday through Saturday to only Thursday through Saturday.

Reduced funding also cut the museum’s staff from one full-time director, four part time employees and a maintenance man to just one full-time director and one part-time employee.

As difficult as those cuts and reductions in spending were at the time, Schedler said they were necessary to get to the state’s finances in order.

“We had to take those hits early on, but we’ve been working back from those,” Schedler said. “We look very good going into this year.”

The other thing that helped the Delta Music Museum and others across the state was local residents who came together to alleviate the costs the secretary of state’s office incurred, Schedler said.

“A lot of these museums were able to stay open because of local groups or the cities offering to help cut the grass or pay some of the utilities,” Schedler said. “It’s that kind of community involvement that’s kept a lot of these museums open during those rough times.”

Apart from taking funds from the state, the Friends of the Delta Music Museum Foundation also contributes — operating the gift shop and working to enhance the exhibits on display.

Through several fundraisers organized by the foundation, the museum is now open all week.

Foundation Director Rena Pitts thanked Schedler Thursday for making the museum a priority on his list.

“We really appreciate your efforts to keep the museum open,” Pitts said. “Now we’ve been able to move from three days open to five days open.”

The museum’s new hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.