Shindig this weekend

The 7th Annual Dino Shindig is set to take place this weekend in Ekalaka. Visitors will be in town from all over the world to hear lectures from leading paleontologists, partake in kids activities, and dance the night away.

Beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, kid's can check out an array of activities on the museum lawn. Some of these activities include a fossil dig pit, face painting, arts and crafts, dino mini-golf, a photo booth, a bat booth and even a live animal booth. At noon, everyone in attendance is invited to watch a robo rex bite force demonstration. At 9:30 p.m., bat mist-netting will take place at Camp Needmore. Starting at 8 p.m., there will be live music outside Dawg House Pub. Other highlights throughout the day will include a vintage car show and shaved ice on the museum lawn.

In addition to all of the family fun on Saturday, there will also be 13 talks from leading paleontologists taking place at the Lutheran church. The lectures are 20 minutes long and are open to the public. In between lectures, event goers are invited to bid on a wide array of silent auction items. A speaker round table discussion that will conclude the day's lectures is scheduled from 3:40 to 4 p.m.

On Sunday, while those that pre-registered for the dig are out, a celebration will take place at Medicine Rocks State Park. This event starts at 10 a.m. and will conclude at 12:30 p.m. Those who attend will enjoy a day of presentations on the geology, paleontology and nature which makes Medicine Rocks so special.

Don't miss out on a fun, educational weekend in Ekalaka. Stop in at the museum or visit cartercountymuseum.org for a full schedule of Shindig events.

7th Annual Dino Shindig speaker lineup

1. Elliott Smith: "Status of the Pinto Elasmosaur: Excavation, Material, and Possible Taxonomy"

2. Robin O'Keefe: "One or two? Multiple individuals or odd proportions in the Pinto Styxosaurus"

3. John Scancella: "A little Triceratops goes a long way"

4. Christian Heck: "Bone microstructure of the Montana state dinosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum: implications for locomotion and growth"

5. Cary Woodruff: ""Bizarre Structures" For UV Visual Displays?"

6. Eric Scott: "North American Bison: the success of an American immigrant"

7. Thomas Holtz: "Coyotes of the Cretaceous to the Ballerinas of Doom: New Discoveries in the Evolution of Tyrannosaurs"

8. Rebecca Hunt-Foster: "Dinosaur National Monument and other late Jurassic Dinosaur Bonebeds of the American West"

9. Thomas Carr: "Is a big T. rex an old T. rex?!"

10. Dave Evans: "Is Stygimoloch a juvenile of Pachycephalosaurus?"

11. Mark Goodwin: "Understanding Pachycephalosaur Diversity and the Importance of Dome-headed Dinosaurs from Carter County, Montana"

12. Nathan Carroll: "Making Hay Since '66 MYA: The long history of living off the land in Eastern Montana"

13. Sabre Moore "Beyond the Museum: Museums as Education Centers"