Westminster's CoOPERAtive Program partnered with the Thomas Edison National Historic Park to provide an opera outreach experience - Opera Then and Now - designed to inspire young people to “find their park” and explore the connection that Thomas Edison had to opera. The event helped to celebrate the National Park Service’s (NPS) 2016 centennial, Presented on Tuesday, October 18, it included a demonstration about Thomas Edison's invention of wax-cylinder recording and opera performances by singers enrolled in Westminster's CoOPERAtive opera training program. Professor Laura Brooks Rice led the musical part of the program with singers Brett Pardue, tenor, and Meroe Khalia Adeeb, soprano, accompanied by James Sparks. Students from local middle schools attended the event and many more viewed it online.