Spring Family Day – April 1st – Old Independence Regional Museum (Posted by Ginger Smith)

Spring Family Day – April 1st – Old Independence Regional Museum

 

Celebrate the spring season with Old Independence Regional Museum at the 2017 Spring Family Day, on Saturday, April 1, 2017 from 10am to 2pm. The event is free and open to the public. This year’s program features “Wild Arkansas” with special programming that includes Rodney Paul of Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas, who will be bringing various species of birds. Dr. Tamara Walkingstick with the Cooperative Extension service will talk about wild, edible plants. Sandra Chandler, geologist with the Education Outreach program of the Arkansas Geological Survey will be available to talk about rocks and minerals, and Dr. Nancy Kohn, Lyon College, will provide information on Arkansas amphibians.

In addition to the featured guest presenters, there will be opportunities to create various crafts related to Arkansas and its natural history.

 

“This is a wonderful opportunity for kids of all ages to come to the museum and learn about some of the amazing creatures, plant life, and features of our state,” said Vicki Garland, Humanities Educator.

The Museum gift shop will be open for the day with many items for kids and families. We stock many items from local artists, authors, and crafters. The gift shop is well stocked for the event with fun plush animals, educational toys, and historical books.

This humanities program is made possible by local support from Independence County and the City of Batesville, as well as by Challenge Grant Endowment funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Old Independence serves a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820s Arkansas territory.

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and $1.00 for children. The museum is located at 380 South 9th street, between Boswell and Vine Streets in Batesville.

(I have included some photos from past events.  One photo is of Dr. Walkingstick speaking about edible plants.  The other photos feature volunteers from the Raptor Rehabilitators  program showing birds.)