2012 Bark In The Park Set For May 19 in Forest Park
Come! Walk! Stay! Play! Fetch your family, friends, co-workers and canines for the can’t-miss event of 2012! Join the Humane Society of Missouri on Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Bark in the Park at Cricket Field in Forest Park. Presented by PurinaONE®, Bark in the Park is the largest dog walk and festival in the Midwest – hosting more than 5,000 participants for a fun-filled day the whole family will enjoy. Register online at hsmo.org/bark. Each registration includes the dog walk at 11 a.m., family fun festival and an official t-shirt. Activities include:
Amazing free-style performances by the Purina® Incredible Dog Team
Pet contests to show off your pooch’s greatest talents – Best Dressed, Best Howl, Best Dog/Owner Dance, Best Stunt/Trick, and the hilarious Doggie Derby Races
Serenity the Llama, Twister the Miracle Horse and other Barn Buddies from Longmeadow Rescue Ranch
Heartgard/Frontline® Family Fun Center where kids get to adopt a stuffed pet, give it a name and learn how to give it love and great care for a lifetime of sloppy kisses and waggin’ tails
Funnel cakes, kettle corn, picnic fare and more at our Festival Food Court
Face painting, balloon animals, inflatable activities and more for our younger participants
Meet this year’s Bark in the Park Mascot, GI Joe, and get his “pawtograph” at his celebrity tent. GI Joe is a 4 1/2 year old black Labrador Retriever mix who came into his owner’s life after she was encouraged to get a service dog to help her with painful arthritic conditions and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from her service in the U.S. Army and in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. His owner says he has given her a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to take a walk when she’s stressed or in pain, and has helped her re-connect to the St. Louis community in so many ways. She says, “We are bonded for life, and I would not be alive and thriving today without GI Joe!”
“Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night” at Missouri Botanical Garden May 26-Aug. 19
Elaborate, illuminated works of art from China will take center stage this summer at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. “Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night” showcases Chinese culture, traditions and symbolism through larger-than-life, detailed scenes crafted from colorful silks and molded steel. The striking sets, ranging in size up to three stories tall, will be lit for special evening viewing, giving visitors the opportunity to experience a cultural event that is rarely staged outside of Asia. “Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night” runs for a limited 12-week engagement, May 26 through August 19, 2012, and is presented by Emerson.
Lantern festivals are deeply rooted in Chinese history and myth, dating back more than 2,000 years to ancient dynasties. Modern-day lantern festivals typically mark the culmination of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration, when giant, ornate lanterns of complex design fill cities with light in vivid, festive displays.
The summer exhibition at the Missouri Botanical Garden highlights its “Year of China,” celebrating the Garden’s long-tenured tradition of botanical research and collaboration with China through the Flora of China project, a 25-year endeavor nearing completion, and the inspiring Grigg Nanjing Friendship Garden (the Chinese Garden).
Explore the Landscape and Meet The Inhabitants of the Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle, home to many different species of marine mammals and fish, has an impact that is larger than most people realize. The Science Center’s newest OMNIMAX® film, To The Arctic, takes viewers to the Arctic Circle to view the breath-taking landscape and explore the problems that are plaguing this region and its inhabitants.
To The Arctic takes spectators on a never before seen journey into the lives of a mother polar bear and her two seven-month old cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home. Captivating, adventurous and intimate footage brings viewers up close and personal with this family’s struggle to survive and thrive in a frigid environment of melting ice, immense glaciers, spectacular waterfalls and majestic snow-bound peaks.
Photo ©2012 Florian Schultz.
Rockwood Center for Creative Learning Students Take ‘Action4Air’
With motor vehicle idling ranking as a major contributor to ozone pollution, 4th grade students from the Rockwood Center for Creative Learning’s (CCL) “There’s No Zone Like the Ozone” classes have embarked on an anti-idling campaign to help reduce emissions and improve the region’s air quality.
Led by instructor Kathy Nuetzel, in conjunction with the American Lung Association and the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership, the “Action4Air” campaign kicked off last spring when students were tasked with developing an idling survey which revealed that, daily, half of the parents picking up their children from the CCL idled their vehicles and some arrived nearly 30 minutes early. Knowing that just 10 seconds of vehicle idling can negatively impact air quality, the students were determined to decrease idling outside the Center.
“This project really kicked off with a visit from Susannah Fuchs of the American Lung Association and the Clean Air Partnership, who spoke to our students and challenged them to solve the problem of idling,” said Kathy Nuetzel, Gifted Educator with the Rockwood CCL. “At the CCL, the curriculum is focused on presenting our gifted students with a real-world problem and empowering them to think critically about that problem and then take actions to fix it or solve it. In this case, the students in our Ozone classes stepped up to the plate in a big way.”
The students were divided into four groups with specific tasks. A Sign Group was in charge of developing proposals to CCL administrators requesting the placement of permanent anti-idling signs in the facility parking lot. The team also designed the signs that now hang in key spots throughout the lot.