While curating the exhibition currently in the Mill Building at Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp called, Recreation: The Great Outdoors and More!, we came across a historic pair of snowshoes with interesting provenance. We decided to highlight them as Artifact of the Month while Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact was on exhibit in the Museum, but we learned more (and less) than we bargained for.

Saturday, August 20, 2022 - Walk for Wildlife 2022 was a major success, thanks to the nearly 300 participants who walked in support of the animals at Turtle Bay!

The Plant(s) of the Month for June are Verbena rigida and Verbena rigida ‘Polaris’. Both are reliable long-blooming plants in the Gardens and in the Nursery and are both blooming profusely this year with the abundant spring rains we’ve been experiencing!

This past weekend, we kicked off the summer season with our annual Brews by the Bridge event! With more beer vendors than ever before, food trucks, outdoor games, and live music, our community had a fun Friday night by the Sundial Bridge. This year’s festivities expanded throughout the entire Gardens, making the event BIGGER and BETTER than in years past. We want to say a huge thank you to all attendees, vendors, and sponsors for their overwhelming support of Turtle Bay!

This stunning and mysterious pendant has been on our Artifact of the Month poll several times and finally made its way to our guests’ top choice! It appears to be pre-Columbian, representing an ancient deity. However, it was likely produced in the 1970s.

This past Family Second Saturday, a fun Turtle Bay Tradition continued: Bubble Day! Bubble Day at Turtle Bay is a Celebration of all things Bubble! The Education Department has been doing Bubble Day programs at least once a year for several years; the author of this blog post remembers facilitating several bubble days as a Teen Volunteer between 2012 and 2016! This year's Bubble activities included bubble walls and wands, as well as an experiment to see what household items can be used to make bubbles.

Did you know that Turtle Bay’s Education department offers engaging and educational programming opportunities on three Saturdays every month? Saturday programs consist of drop-in activities that are fun and interactive, thanks to the Museum volunteers that facilitate them. These programs enhance our guests' visits by providing engaging and pertinent learning opportunities to learners of all ages. Saturday Education Programs support Turtle Bay’s mission by providing fun and facilitated activities, demonstrations, and experiments that help encourage guests to wonder, explore and appreciate the world around them!

It would not be Turtle Bay without turtles, and this summer, we have bonus turtles! In the main museum, artist Betty LaDuke’s breathtaking Turtle Wisdom features twenty carved and painted turtles exploring human themes such as love, resilience, and how to work together.

The night sky has fascinated me since I was a young boy. My father was an amateur astronomer who built his own telescopes in the basement, and I remember watching him with awe. One night when I was only seven years old, my father set up a telescope to view Saturn, and I peered through the eyepiece to see the planet. Even though it appeared so tiny, that moment left a lasting impression on me.

As plant of the month for May, Turtle Bay’s Senior Horticulturist/Senior Nursery Specialist, Linda Russo, chose Penola Lavender Grevillea. Lavender Grevillea is an Australian native plant that grows throughout a wide range of Southwestern Australia.

International Museum Day is yet another opportunity for Turtle Bay to connect with our community and celebrate the value that our museum brings to people of all ages and walks of life. Our mission is to inspire wonder, exploration, and appreciation of our world. We envision Turtle Bay as a vibrant gathering place where our community is strengthened through education, cultural engagement, and economic growth.

This month’s volunteer spotlight is Julia Nikodem! Julia has been volunteering in the Animal Care Department since the summer of 2019, with a total of 1,000+ hours of hard work and dedication to Turtle Bay! Learn more about Julia’s passion for our animals and how her experience as a volunteer has influenced her future career path.

Would you use this gas-powered contraption to do your weekly ironing? You are probably familiar with the Coleman name and may have used one of their many gas-powered products, such as a grill or lantern. Coleman started their company in 1900, selling gas lanterns, and branched out from there. They produced gas irons like this one from 1924 until 1982. This Model No. 4 Coleman Gasoline Clothes Iron was sold between 1929 and 1932.