Bugs and Stars
Our 30th Birthday Celebration!
On Saturday August 22nd Blue Hill Heritage Trust is sponsoring two different family events on Blue Hill Mountain. Naturalist Lynn Havsall is returning with her butterfly nets and bug viewing boxes to help children capture, identify and release bugs in the field at the base of the mountain. When a child captures a bug, Lynn helps them carefully put it inside a magnifying box and then guides the child to notice details to help identify it. Lynn’s enthusiasm is contagious and she makes even the most common insect seem like a special discovery. This event starts at 2 PM.
At 2:30 the bug explorers will take a break to enjoy refreshments in celebration of the Trust’s 30th birthday and to recognize the achievements of the children participating in the Passport Program. Twelve of the BHHT trails have wooden boxes containing a special stamp along the trail with its location marked on the map at the trailhead. When children and their families hike the trail they stop at the box to stamp their Passport booklet. Once a child has collected 8 out of 12 trail stamps they bring the booklet to the Trust office on Mountain Road in Blue Hill to receive a certificate and prize. Passport booklets are available at the office, the Blue Hill Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and local libraries. Bugs catching resumes after this break and will continue until 3:30.
At 8 pm that same night, the second family friendly event will begin with Pat Horton, Youth Services Librarian of the Blue Hill Public. She will be reading folktales about the night sky and constellations.
Around 8:30, Lynn Havsall will again be in the field guiding our eyes skyward. She will point out stars and the constellations they form, while telling stories and facts about them.
To make viewing even more exciting, everyone will get a chance to use the two telescopes from the BH Public Library. Pat will help people learn how to use the telescopes and Lynn will tell you where and what to to look for in the sky. The original telescope was awarded to the Library through a grant funded by the National Science Foundation and administered by Cornerstones of Science and the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), two non-profits based in Maine. Due to the popularity of the first telescope, the Library purchased a second one. It is available for circulation.
If we are lucky, some meteors from the Perseid shower will shoot past. The Perseid meteor shower is one of the brightest of the year. It is made of space debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet and the shower seems to come from the constellation Perseus in the northeast part of the sky. It begins earlier in the month, but there still may be some meteors on August 22. We also will be able to look at the surface of the moon with the telescopes.
Bring blankets or lawn chairs, warm clothes, binoculars, flashlights and telescopes if you have them. Lynn will be available until 10:30 to point out features in the night sky and to answer questions.
Please register for this event by calling our office at (207)374-5118 or by emailing info@bluehillheritagetrust.org
