[Hac-announce] Darwin Day events in Connecticut

[Richard Siddall]

Hello everyone,

This is a summary of the two major Connecticut celebrations of Charles 
Darwin's birthday on February 12.  Both events take place this Saturday, 
February 10.

As you probably know, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal and 
Representative Jim Himes sponsor congressional resolutions recognizing 
February 12 as "Darwin Day" each year.  Senator Chris Murphy co-sponsors 
Senator Blumenthal's resolution.  We are hoping that Governor Malloy 
will issue a proclamation supporting those resolutions this year.

The Southern Connecticut Darwin Day Dinner is in its tenth year, and is 
again co-sponsored by the Norwalk Public Schools Science Department. 
This year it will again be held at the Waters Edge at Giovannis
2748 Boston Post Rd, Darien CT 06820 starting at 6 PM on Saturday, 
February 10.  The guest speaker will be Yale Lecturer Mark Sheskin, 
talking on "What, if anything, makes humans unique?"

The cost is $69/person, less for early booking.  There are discounted 
tickets for high school students.  Full details are at 
http://darwindayct.org/

New this year will be the "Darwin Day North" event taking place from 
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on February 10 at the Connecticut Science 
Center, 250 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford.  This will be a child-friendly 
event.  Professor Kenneth Noll of UConn will present "What is a 
Species?"  Professor Noll is also a Darwin impersonator and will be on 
hand all day to take selfies with attendees and answer questions.  The 
Art Truck will help youngsters make a tree of life craft or finch 
drawing or the like.  There will be a birthday cake for Darwin around 
noon and we'll all sing "Happy Birthday."  The British nature 
documentary series, Galapagos 3D, will be the movie playing throughout 
the day in the theater.  There will be rotating Darwin "fun facts" on 
the Jumbotron all day.  There will be ongoing mini-talks on animal 
adaptations in Science Alley.  There is a story time circle for toddlers 
where they will listen to a volunteer read from a children’s book on 
evolution.

Governor Malloy, Senator Blumenthal, and Congressman Himes have all been 
invited.  Regular admission to the science center ($23.95, $21.95 for 
seniors, $16.95 for students, free for its members) is required; there 
is no additional charge for the Darwin Day events.  For more information 
contact Pat McCann at pjmccann3 at gmail.com.

	Richard Siddall