October & November 2004 issue

Contents:

Letter From Lindy - Inviting You Back

Cobweb Castle Lowers Drawbridge

Birthdays are back

End of Summer means End of Titanic

Northrop Grumman Gives to OCM for Bellevue Outreach

Omaha Children’s Museum Makes Omaha’s Top Ten

Letter From Lindy - Inviting You Back
It's the start of a new school year, and in many ways a new museum year as well. Fall means a time to repair, repaint and regroup at the children's museum as school age children return to the classroom and younger folks take advantage of all that the outdoors has to offer. The air is crisp and clean. We await the coming frost, which brings people back indoors and looking for a place to gather, such as the children's museum.

We are ready to welcome you back. We want you to check out our new Cobweb Castle and get just a little spooked. We want to see your Halloween costume and hope you join us for our Halloween Hoopla. We invite you to create your own one of a kind snowflake with the Snowflake Lady.

Consider making Thursday evening a special family time, and spend it at the museum during our open late hours each week. Stop and pick up a pizza on your way down, or pack a picnic and spend some time exploring your museum together as a family. We invite you to take ownership in this special place created for you and your family and use it to bring your family together this fall.

I personally look forward to fall each year. I love the smell of apples in harvest, pumpkin pie and watching the leaves change colors. I also enjoy seeing the familiar faces of our museum families return to the museum and take advantage of all we have to offer.
Welcome back and enjoy the fall!

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Cobweb Castle Lowers Drawbridge
Halloween is taking over Omaha Children's Museum throughout October with a month-long haunted house exhibit.

Cobweb Castle opens to the public Sat., Oct. 2, 10 a.m. Throughout the month, anyone visiting the museum will be able to explore the castle.
"Parents are looking for safe, fun activities around Halloween," said Tom Simons, director of education and public programming. "Cobweb Castle lets kids enjoy a little fright while not being terrified."

Guests will be greeted with a graveyard maze leading to Cobweb Castle's entrance. Then, it's into the Pirates Parlor, where wanderers into the room can take their chance at the treasure tubes and find out what is inside. A secret exit takes them to the Kooky Kitchen, where the world is turned upside down, including the skeletons dining at the table and the rats munching in the cupboard. Vampire's Batty Bedroom has a few beds (coffins) for guests to try on for size, plus a friendly ghost in Casper's Closet. Guests of the castle can test their memory in a guessing game that might pack a little fright. While exiting the room, guests are warned to be careful of the mummy (and to listen to their daddies). Twisted Tree Root Tunnels take castle visitors out of the castle. And watch out for the giant spider, whose been saving his appetite for October.

Said Simons, "We're serious about the fun in Cobweb Castle. Kids will role play, imagine, observe and test their memories while on their spooky adventure."

Cobweb Castle is made possible by all the supporters who raised their pallets at the 2004 For The Kids Benefit, Nobbie’s Party Superstore and Millard Lumber.

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Birthdays Are Back
Starting at $40 for members, basic birthday parties include: 1) one hour in the birthday party room or one of the activity rooms (up to 24 people); 2) invitations to send out before the party; and 3) a balloon for each child.

Admission to the museum is additional at regular admission rates, and, of course, FREE for members. (That way, if grandma and grandpa want to come to the party but not stay at the museum, they don't need to pay admission.)

Parties may be scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays, Satur-days and Sundays.

Call (402) 342-6164 ext. 410 to book your child's birthday!

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End of Summer means End of Titanic
The summer weather may have been unseasonably cool, but the coolest place in Omaha was probably Omaha Children's Museum. An iceberg will do that, after all.

"The museum was also pretty cool with its visitors and even people who had just heard about Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit," said Christian Burk, director of marketing and public relations. "We were out at events a lot this summer, and it seemed that nearly everyone we talked to knew that we had this great exhibit at the museum."

That public awareness translated into huge visitation. Attendance at the museum broke the 100,000 mark during the run of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit. Of that 100,000, around 60 percent came just to see Titanic.

"I am so proud of the museum staff for their ability to pull of a major traveling exhibit like this," said Lindy Hoyer, executive director of Omaha Children's Museum. "This exhibition was explored some uncharted waters for Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit: 1) we were the first children's museum to host; 2) Omaha was the smallest city; and 3) ours was the shortest run they'd ever done."

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit has now sailed away, leaving the museum somewhat changed.

Said Burk, "The museum is now moving into the fall with a greater public presence than it has had since the first dinosaur exhibit."

"We've also got a great outreach program with the Discovery Ports that we wouldn't have otherwise.".

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Northrop Grumman Gives to OCM for Bellevue Outreach
Northrop Grumman Corporation has awarded a $5,000 grant to Omaha Children's Museum for the upcoming school year. The grant will allow the museum to bring its new outreach program, Discovery Ports, to all of the Bellevue Public Elementary Schools in the 2004 - 2005 school year.

Bob Hinson, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and lead executive for US STRATCOM in Nebraska, formally presented the grant near the Discovery Ports in the museum's Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit Pre-Boarding Area on Aug. 3.

"We see this grant as an opportunity to enhance the science and math learning experience for thousands of school children in the Bellevue community," said Hinson.

The Discovery Ports are six exhibit pieces with hands-on activities designed by the museum to complement Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit. Though formerly on display in the Pre-Boarding Area, they have been folded up and taken to area schools this fall, accompanied by a half-hour Titanic play created by the Living Picture Project.

The ports include: What Makes Things Float? Understanding Density (Science and Math Activity); Plotting A Course (Geography Activity); Recovery, Conservation & Restoration (Science Activity); The Marconi Wireless: Communication Aboard the Titanic (Science and Communications Activity); Uniting the Classes: An Understanding of How People Lived in 1912 (History & Cultural Activity); and Building the Titanic (Engineering, Architecture & Design Activity).

"Discovery Ports are the newest, most ambitious outreach activity the museum has developed in recent history," said Lindy Hoyer, executive director of Omaha Children's Museum. "Northrop Grumman's grant gives all Bellevue Public School children an opportunity to experience this unprecedented program."

Discovery Ports were made possible by Peter Kiewit Foundation, Ahmanson Foundation, Iowa West Foundation, The Charles and Mary Heider Foundation and Qwest Foundation.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has 125,000 employees and operates in all 50 states and 25 countries and serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

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Omaha's Top Ten Attractions
1. Henry Doorly Zoo & Wildlife Safari
2. Durham Western Heritage Museum
3. Joslyn Art Museum
4. Girls & Boys Town
5. Old Market/Heartland of America Park
6. Strategic Air & Space Museum
7. Lauritzen Gardens
8. Mormon Trail Center
9. Lewis & Clark Landing
10. Omaha Children's Museum

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