Family Fun Fest returns to the museum this weekend

Submitted by Kerynn Fisher
Phone: 907-474-6941
06/01/09

Photos by Kerynn Fisher

Volunteer Mary Ann Nickles helps participants get started on their plant presses at the 2008 TOTE Family Fun Fest.

A young visitor gets some help dissecting her owl pellet at the 2008 TOTE Family Fun Fest.

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Kids will enjoy painting their own museum masterpieces, making an Aleut hat, building plant presses, dissecting owl pellets, learning Eskimo dances with the Pavva Inupiaq dancers and other activities related to the museum's exhibits and research collections. New to the event this year, the "dino dinner" game will help children understand the importance of camouflage as they search for "prey" on the museum grounds. UAF's mascot will be making the rounds of the activities and visiting with children.

Admission is $3 per child. Free parking is available in the museum's RV lot, located to the east of the big top tent, with additional parking in UAF's Natural Sciences parking lot. Refreshments will be available from UAF's Dining Services and Aunt Alice's Old Time Kettle Corn.

The museum's TOTE Family Fun Fest started in 1999 as a fundraiser for the museum's expansion and has grown in popularity every year, drawing hundreds of children and parents to enjoy a fun-filled day of museum activities. Totem Ocean Trailer Express has served as the lead sponsor of the event since 2000.

CONTACT: Kerynn Fisher, University of Alaska Museum of the North communications coordinator, at 907-474-6941 or 907-378-2559.