August 27, 2006 brought a reception at the Homewood Library to
celebrate our annual exhibit and gave us a chance to meet the
public. Channel Six news arrived and gave us excellent
coverage,
including an interview
with Greg. Members set up the reception and
provided food
and beverages (and fossils to share) and were on hand to meet, greet
and answer the many questions that came our way.
The main hall held several exhibit cases filled with Alabama
fossils. But what if you want to touch and hold the
fossils? So in the auditorium, BPS had two tables covered
with
fossils that visitors could pick up and examine closely. The
scanning microscope proved to be a big hit for the “close
examination”
part. Plenty of food added to the good
time. A great
video on view, “The Making of ‘Walking With
Dinosaurs” was a big
hit. At one point during the day, Greg gathered a
crowd
around him, and took off for the main exhibit hall, where he did a
quick presentation regarding the exhibit. But the biggest hit
of
all was the sand pile outside which had been liberally salted with
Alabama fossils to “discover.”
Kids and grown-ups alike dug
in and had fun! We were delighted at the crowds who showed up
and
the interest shown in the paleontology of Alabama. There was
a
lot of surprise expressed that Alabama has such a wide variety of
fossils.
The annual exhibition and reception gives us a great
opportunity each
year to share our knowledge, collections and enthusiasm with the
Birmingham community. Huge thanks are due to the Homewood
Library
for providing such a wonderful facility and helping make this all
possible!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(photos
courtesy Vicki Lais)
Setting up the fossil tables and video. Greg (far left) was
coordinator of
the Exhibit.
Some
of the fossils on display.
Visitors examine the fossils.
Carole handled food and publicity for the event, and did a super
job! Thanks, Carole ! ! ! Mary Ann and Leisa also
donated
some home-made goodies - those trilobite cookies and brownies sure went
fast, didn't they !
Mary Ann and Carole talking with a visitor.
And
they examine the snacks even closer !
More
fossils on another table, and a digital microscope to get a close
up look at some of the microfossils.
Looking
at images under the microscope (shown on the laptop screen).
As interesting as it was inside, the sand pile outside was where the
action was! Kids of all ages got to search for their very own
fossil in the generously seeded sand box. Fossils from all
over
Alabama were donated by BPS members for the day's event.
It got even more interesting when Channel 6 news showed up to see what
all the fun was about!
Martha,
in pink, was coordinator of the sand pile activities.
Young
lady showing off her find to Jun and Sandy.
The dinosaur stamps also were a big hit!