Live animals. A mad scientist. A walk in the prairie, and an astronomy lesson. The National Homestead Monument of America has all the makings of a fun and educational event this weekend. <\/p>\n
Saturday marks the Monuments 18th annual Howling Homestead. The Monument has hosted the Halloween-themed event free-of-charge since 1997. Park Superintendent Mark Engler said with an average of 350-450 attendees annually, Howling Homestead is one of the Monuments best-attended events of the year. <\/p>\n
This years festivities start at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Monuments Heritage Center. Engler encouraged families to arrive early. <\/p>\n
The first 100 kids will get a free pumpkin, he said. I like to call these pumpkins two-arm pumpkins, because theyre pretty good-sized pumpkins. The pumpkins are being provided by The Friends of Homestead. The Friends of Homestead have been doing this throughout the years that weve been doing our Howling Homestead event. Were very grateful for the work that they do. <\/p>\n
Engler said the event will be broken up into stations, with Monument employees and volunteers assisting attendees along the way. <\/p>\n
When visitors arrive, we ask them to get a card, Engler explained. Well assign them a group with this card. Theyre assigned to that group throughout the evening. We have volunteers and employees who stay with that group, and they rotate from station to station. <\/p>\n
Engler said groups will spend roughly 10-12 minutes at each station. <\/p>\n
One of the most popular stations features a lesson on some scary animals lurking around the prairie. <\/p>\n
Theyll learn about snakes, Engler said. Theyll learn about raptors. Theyll learn about bats. <\/p>\n
Visitors will also have the opportunity to perform experiments with a mad scientist. <\/p>\n
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See more here: <\/p>\n
National Monument to host free Halloween event<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Live animals. A mad scientist. Continue reading