Hays Post
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History has set its annual shark tooth and fossil hunt for 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 16.
The cost is $12 for museum members and $15 for non-members. Register is required by June 11.
Participants will caravan to the collection site from the museum. Participants will be surface collecting fossils. Some of their finds could include shark teeth, clam and oyster shells, fossil fish fins, or vertebrae. Fossil hunters on a rare occasion might find a mosasaur vertebrae, Darrah Steffen, public relations assistant, said.
Fossils from the deposit are from the Cretaceous Period when Kansas was covered by a great inland sea and are about 66 million years old.
The event is family friendly and all ages are encouraged to attend, Steffen said.
Wearing long pants and closed-toe shoes is recommended. Participants are also encouraged to wear sunscreen and bug spray. Water and snacks will be provided.
To register, call 785-628-5516.
The Sternberg has also opened registration for “Murder on the Cretaceous Seaway.”
The evening is for those 21 and older. It will be 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4. Cost is $20 with an additional $5 for babysitting. Tickets are available online through the link above.
Participants, who are encouraged to dress in costume, will be assigned a character in line with the event’s pirate theme.
After a voyage filled with pillaging and plundering, The Jaded Jewel, is docked. As the pirates head to town to celebrate their homecoming and spend their gold and goods, a night of turmoil and trouble is sure to transpire.
Midway through the evening, a member of the group will be “murdered.” It will be up to the remaining characters to solve the crime.
Participants will be posed with riddles and must search the museum high and low, reading museum placards for clues to solve the mystery.
Hors d’oeuvres and alcoholic drinks will be served.
The program is part of a thesis project for FHSU student Kat Rivers as a means of introducing more adult programing at the museum.
“We think it will be a lot of fun,” Steffen said. “We are really excited about it.”