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By Sara, July 18, 2010 3:50 pm

…Let the good times roll!

I know that for most of us at the museum, our minds are still on the ongoing field season and the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new facilities. But we’re trying to think a few months ahead as well…

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately in regards to our annual celebration, the “Bone Soiree,” which normally takes place this time of year. We’ve switched the date up a little bit in order for our celebration to be held in our “new digs.”  

So for the first time ever, the Bone Soiree will take place in September. Not only does this give us the opportunity to host in the new facilities, but hopefully it will also aleviate some of the sweltering heat and humidity that we’ve had in past years.

Besides the date and the location of our annual fundraiser changing, another thing that’s different about this year’s event pertains to the silent auction. We’ve decided to go in a little bit of a different direction and do two raffles. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the event, and can go to either:

A 50/50: Winner takes half of the cash from tickets sold.

or:

A Bucket Raffle: Raffle tickets purchased can be placed in one of six buckets for each prize package.

We’ve got some really neat prize packages for the bucket raffle, and there’s something for everybody! You’ll definitely want to get your name into at least one of these.

• Chicago Package: Eat, Stay, and Play! Two nights at a lakefront three bedroom condo; Park Grill gift certificate, four Chicago Bulls tickets, four Chicago Cubs tickets, and other entertainment certificates; valued at $2000.
• Family Package: Golf, Play, Eat! Rockford Park District passes, golf lessons from the Rockford Country Club, a Ray Cook putter from the Forest Hills Country Club, a golf four-some from Mah-na-tee-see Country Club, and an Oscar’s pizza party; valued at $1300.
• Outdoors Package: Mow, Grow, and Enjoy! A Japanese Maple from Tyler’s Nursery, a large outdoor sculpture from Porch, a lawnmower, and more! Valued at $1200.
• Photo Party Package: Grin, Play, Create! Four hours use of a photo booth from Photo Booth Express (if you were at last year’s Bone Soiree, you’ll remember how fun this was!), and the creation of a commemorative book; valued at $1250.
• Rockford Restaurants Package: Eat, Eat Eat! Restaurant gift certificates from: Stone Eagle Tavern, Josef’s, Maria’s, Ciao Bella, Beef-a-Roo, Kiki B’s, Garrett’s, Hawk’s Nest, Marc’s Fusion, Angelo’s, and more! Valued at $500.
• Burpee Package: Dig, Explore, Play! Tuition for one Utah dig (transportation not included), children’s Night at the Museum private party, and two Family Memberships; valued at $1590.

A Sneak Peek at our brand-new Riverfront Room with Terrace!

 Though there are a few changes in the way the fundraiser is going to be this year, we’re still doing a variety of appetizers by Chef Philippe of Cliffbreaker’s and a cash bar in a casual, cocktail party style. It’s going to be a lot of fun to enjoy the evening in the Riverfront Room and on the new terrace! There’s also going to be live music by the Knee Deep Band, and carnival fun for grown-ups, including the return of the photo booth and a fortune teller!

Here’s the rundown of What You Need To Know:
–Saturday, September 11th, 2010; 6:00-11:00 PM.
–$65 per reservation before August 11; after August 11 $75 each.
–$500 for a table of eight by August 11; $600 after August 11.
–Please RSVP by September 3.
–Raffle Pacakges: 1 ticket/$10, 3/$25, 7/$50, and 15/$100.

  If you want to purchase tickets or if you have questions, give us a call at the museum at 815-965-3433.

Hope to see you there! Let the Good Times Roll!

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By Scott Williams, July 7, 2010 10:34 am

Plastering the Big Jacket

Well…it’s the end of the road for the 2010 Hanksville-Burpee Quarry fieldseason.  The remaining work…which is a lot and a little bit of misery; includes putting the quarry to bed and removing the last of our plaster jackets.  Over a breakneck week a few of us DIE-HARDS stuck it out in 90-100 temperatures to get everything ready.  One of the more exciting specimens was the articulated caudal (tail) section to a Barosaurus.  Barosaurus is a type of sauropods (long necked dino) that is related to Apatosaurus and Diplodocus.  The block was trenched, plastered, reinforced with 2 X 4s, trenched more, plastered more ….well you get the idea.  Many 9-10 hour days were spent getting the whole site ready.  We even had some reinforcements; Cory Schabacker (an old school friend of mine and Burpee Member) and Brad Brown (who cut his teeth at the homer site).  Without them we could not have wrapped it up as we (me, Mindy and Katie) were all walking wounded, sporting back backs, hips and fatigue. 

Flipping the Big Jacket

Then the final day came when Curtis Whipple (Hanksville Mayor) repeated his role from last year and came to the site with his forklift.  After a little situating the forks and straps….the 1000 lbs block rolled like a charm.  TEXTBOOK……if I do say so myself.  The other side was plastered and reinforced.  All the plastered bones were hauled out for storage and we can close the book on the 2010 Hanksville-Burpee Quarry season.  Now….its 10 days off and onto Montana to collect more Triceratops, Tyrannosaurs and Cretaceous Crocodiles..oh my!!….now where is my ibuprofen??