It’s NOT too late...

...to take advantage of the BEST savings of the entire year on our preschool programs! Tell your friends and family... You have two more days (until Friday, October 2) to purchase a Lake Erie Nature & Science Center Family Membership ($50) and get the following great savings:

• Save $75 on ALL 3 SEASONS- 30 WEEKS- of Nature Nuts!
• Save $75 on ALL 3 SEASONS- 30 WEEKS- of Log Cabin Explorers Club!
• Save $30 on ALL 3 SEASONS- 30 WEEKS- of Frogs & Polliwogs!

Your tuition will also be prorated for the Fall Session. Even if you've already signed up for the fall session only, you can still take advantage of our special school year savings by extending your child’s registration before October 2.

Don’t forget all the other benefits of that Family Membership either! You’ll receive our seasonal Program Guides, 2 planetarium tickets, discounts AND advanced registration on many more of our programs and classes for all ages — including our Friday Hayride Nights, our brand new Animals a la Mode family program and our Easter Eggstravaganza, free admission to more than 80 other nature centers around the country, plus the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting a valued community resource!

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center is the best investment you can make for your child, your family, and your planet this year! Give us a call at 440-871-2900. We can register you right over the telephone.

Hayrides, Lasers and Autumn Fun

The chill in the air and the calendar approaching October has us really looking forward to one of the most popular autumn activities at the Center – Fall Family Hayride Nights. There's still time to get in on the fun but you’ll need to pre-register soon!

The first of two Fall Family Hayride Nights takes place on Friday, October 9 and begins with a full pizza dinner. The evening also includes hay wagon rides around Huntington Reservation, kid-friendly seasonal crafts, planetarium star shows and live animals.

Children are encouraged to wear their costumes to the second Family Hayride event on Friday, October 30 when a trick or treat trail through the Center’s backyard Wildlife Gardens provides additional fun. Both of these all-inclusive hayride nights run from 6 – 9 p.m. and require advance registration. Fees are $10 for adults and $5 for kids.

By the way, the second Hayride night will also include laser lights because it coincides with a two weekend run of Halloween Laser Light Shows in the planetarium. The animated Skylase laser lights and music take on a Halloween theme during full-dome shows on October 24, 25 and 31 and November 1. Six shows each day begin at 11:30 a.m. with seatings at half past the hour every hour through 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $3 per person.

Common Night Hawk Feeding

A Common Night Hawk in the care of our Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation staff is making progress recovering from trauma to it's left eye. The bird arrived emaciated and we’re working hard to get its weight up through hand feeding.













This is one of the difficult challenges of wildlife rehab because in the wild, these birds “eat on the wing,” meaning they dine on insects while flying. Because the birds won’t pick up food from the ground, we literally open their beaks by hand to get them to swallow a meal of insects. A hand-feeding is what is pictured in the photo here.
-Amy LeMonds, Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist

Discover Annual Benefit

Organizers of Lake Erie Nature & Science Center's 2009 Annual Benefit pulled off a great party on Saturday night, with backyard ambiance and down home fun inviting everyone to "Discover the Universe in Your Backyard!" Guests drank beverages from signature Mason Jar mugs, enjoyed great barbecue, live music, bonfire, live and silent auctions, a Continental Airlines airfare raffle and much more.
Hundreds of twinkle lights provided starlight overhead, while red-checked table runners and vases of daisies dressed down the white linens on the tables inside the Center and out under the patio tent. Live animals, cornhole and the OSU-USC game on the planetarium dome provided additional entertainment.

Pictured here (L-R) are Decorations Committee Chair Amanda DiBenedetto, Event Co-chair Marianna Orro, Auction Chair Corryn Firis, Event Co-chair Alison Muth and Underwriting Chair Chris Herbruck who all worked closely with Center staff, including Julie Gordon to pull off a wonderful evening for more than 300 guests.

The event aimed to raised $50,000 in support for the Center's non-profit mission to inspire appreciation for the natural world. A lot more photos are posted in an album on our Facebook page and coming soon to our online newsroom media center.
Save the date! The September 11, 2010 Annual Benefit will invite you to Discover the Cosmos!

Discover Party Ready to Roll

The weather looks great for tomorrow night (clouds and sun with a high of 70 degrees!) The auction donations have rolled in with incredible new items and more packages than ever before. The decorations committee will be transforming the Center into a backyard oasis later today. If you still want to come, get your reservations in today because it will cost you $15 more per person at the door. Get late details on our Discover Annual Benefit here. See you tomorrow night!

Labor Day Weekend Schedule

It will be a busy weekend in Bay Village with soccer players from all over the region in town for a tournament. Lake Erie Nature & Science Center will welcome visitors on our usual schedule, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, but please note that we will be closed Monday, September 7 for the Labor Day holiday.

We have a full day of slate of public star shows in the Walter R. Schuele Planetarium on Saturday, including a new topic for our Monthly Skyquest,"There's a Lot to See in September!" The planetarium staff will answer a ton of questions about the late summer night sky over Northeast Ohio: Why can't we see Saturn anymore? Where are its rings? Is that Jupiter? Can you really see Neptune? What does all of this have to do with a triangle of summer?

This is a time of transition in the night sky, with a great deal to see with our eyes, binoculars and telescope. If the weather cooperates, we'll have telescopes out in meadow for free, guided viewing after the 7 p.m. Skyquest Show. Please note that this marks the first night that the evening Skyquest shows will return to the 7 p.m. start time after moving to 8 p.m. for the summer.

Stop by and see us and enjoy the long weekend!

Leave No Fishing Line Behind!

We were able to release a Canada Goose that made a good recovery after suffering a deep wound from fishing line. If you like to fish, you may not realize how dangerous line left in the water can be for birds that frequent the water. This goose came into our Wildlife Education & Rehabiliation Program recently with fishing line wrapped around the right leg, cutting all the way to the bone. After removing the line and treating with a week of antibiotics, the swelling and inflammation were reduced and the goose began using the leg again.

The lesson this patient teaches? When you go fishing, try not to leave any lines in the water. It’s all too easy for wildlife to get tangled up in the line and the more they struggle, the tighter the vice of line can become. In this case, we're able to report a happy ending and this goose was returned to a local pond. - Amy LeMonds, Wildlife Specialist