9th Annual Dino Shindig next weekend

The 9th Annual Dino Shindig is set to take place next 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.

On Thursday, July 22 the museum is hosting yoga, beginning at 7 p.m. at Medicine Rocks State Park. Stargazing will follow at 8 p.m.

Beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 24, kid's can check out an array of activities on the museum lawn. Admission is $5 for kids and $7 for adults on Saturday. Some of these activities include various arts and crafts, a fossil dig pit, naturalist painting demo, raptor taxidermy demo, fossil prep and rehousing demos, a scavenger hunt, dino mini golf, Ekalaka dome stargazing and even a triceratoss. Additionally, animals from Zoo Montana will be in Ekalaka and can be seen from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. At 9:30 p.m., a bat walk with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks will take place.

In addition to all of the family fun on Saturday, there will also be thirteen talks from leading paleontologists taking place at the Lutheran church. The lectures are 20 minutes long and are open to the public.

On Sunday, those who pre-registered for the annual dig will be on an active dig site.

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. A graphic showing Saturday's events can be found on page 4 of this issue.

9th Annual Dino Shindig speaker lineup

1. Sabre Moore: "Shots Felt 'Round the World: Rural Museums & Public Health"

2. John Scannella: "The Dinosaurs of Makoshika State Park"

3. Steve Hobe: "Twinkle, Twinkle All You Stars"

4. Kimi Chapelle: "Taking a Walk in the Jurassic"

5. Richard Carr: "To Bend or Not to Bend: Mosasaur Cranial Kinesis"

6. Jingmai O'Connor: "Evolution of Dinosaurian Flight"

7. Josh Mathews: "The Hell Creek in Carter County"

8. Sarah Keenan: "Death, Decay & Surviving Another Day"

9. Alida Bailleul: "Why We Can't Clone a Dinosaur"

10. Stew Cook: "Hell Creek Amber: Paleontology's New Frontier"

11. Thomas Holtz: "Spinosaurus, Weird and Wonderful"

12. Lydia Tackett: "CRUNCH! Tiny Fossils Tell Big Stories"

13. Eric Scott: "Mastodons of the Pacific"