New Exhibit opening on 9/26
Great Lakes Children’s Museum members have an opportunity to take a sneak peek at the Museum’s newest exhibit on September 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The event is the focus of the Fall Member Night. Like all Member Nights, admission is free to members. Memberships are available for purchase the night of the event for any non-members wanting to attend.
“Member nights are sort of like an old-fashioned family picnic for a very big extended family,” says museum Executive Director Michael Long. “We ask anyone who is attending to let us know ahead of time so we can have adequate refreshments on hand,” Long says.
Member nights feature activity normally not available during regular business hours. In honor of the exhibit opening, members will be constructing their own versions of a bridge to take home. Refreshment for the 25th will include Bridge Mix. There will be an alternative for individuals with nut allergies.
“Building Bridges” will open to the public at Noon on September 26, 2014. The exhibit focuses on the art and science of bridge construction. There are brightly colored kid-sized building blocks which, when assembled correctly, form a bridge participants can cross. A train track with multiple bridges, a K’nex station and a third station designed to illustrate the effects of tension, compression, gravity and load complete the exhibit learning. Exhibit walls are filled with information supporting learning including bridge blue prints and diagrams. There are also pictures of famous bridges from all over the world.
An entire wall is dedicated to the Mackinac Bridge. A mural of the bridge at night, contributed by local artist Hesper Smyth, is surrounded by photos and text about the Mighty Mac’s history.
On Saturday, September 27, 2014, the Museum is hosting a bridge building challenge. The challenge starts promptly at 1:00 pm. Registered teams of 1 to 4 people will be asked to span a specific distance in a timed challenge using only spaghetti and marshmallows. Registration is $5.00 per team and is limited to 15 teams. To pre-register, call the Museum at (231) 932-4526 during business hours. Registration will be complete once the Museum has received the $5.00 fee. The registration fee does not include access to Museum exhibits.
“Building Bridges” is sponsored by Team Elmers and Paul Maurer General Contracting, Inc.. Volunteers contributed over 80 hours toward the exhibit’s completion.