By Doug Comer
Harrison County Parks and Recreation
The Walking with Dinosaurs “Moments in Time – the Age of the Dinosaurs” Exhibit hits the Harrison County Recreation Complex this weekend. The free event will welcome patrons from the North Central West Virginia area. In the past, tens of thousands of people visited the facility in hopes of getting a close-up view of their favorite creature.
“We are going to demolish last year’s numbers,” Parks and Recreation Director Mike Book said jokingly as COVID-19 prevented the exhibit from opening in 2021. In fact, when the initial wave came about in 2020, we already had the exhibit up and ready to go. “We put in a ton of work in 2020 only to have it canceled and the exhibit taken down per the request of the County Commission as the building could be used as a shelter. What a shame that the pandemic caused that to happen. We were only open for less than two weeks.”
Now, Book is flying high knowing that the museum-quality items are coming back in full bloom and will be shown off this weekend through early May. While the public weekends are important, the real reason for hosting this is for the kids who attend during the school year. Enrichments have been a staple for the parks department for over a decade and the dinosaurs are one of the biggest draws.
With a six-week program, almost every day is booked during the week with schools from the area. The dates filled up in less than a week as registration began on March 9 and there are just a couple days left. Book expected this to happen as historically this is the most popular of the three to four enrichments offered during the year.
He said the enrichment is a “total team effort.”
“We put a lot of our time into this program simply because it is our way of showing the area what Harrison County has to offer,” he said. “The parks board and the county commission have been instrumental in the success of the program and, of course, the vital service levy helps fund this exhibit.”
As mentioned, the event is free, and those who attend can expect to see the same museum-quality found in the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History. In fact, many of our full-sized skeletons most likely come from the same molds created for those named establishments.
The term replicas is hard to understand for kids as they observe them as being fake. However, that is not the case. Replicas for fossils are molds of the originals. Every detail is calculated including the cracks, breaks and crevices of the originals. Most know that fossils are formed when the bones adhere to the elements in the ground and later turn to stone. They are extremely heavy, so molds are made of those bones with a lighter material. That is what you see when you visit places like ours.
“We have a ton of replicas, but we have a lot of actual fossils as well,” said Book. “Staff has been applying Icy Hot to their backs after lifting some of these items as they can weigh a lot. As you know the fossils are generally rocks and when the casts are made with a fossil in it, it can weigh a good bit. When you see the place with the finishing touches, you will have no problem in recognizing the authentic from the replicas.”
Donna Stuart, curator, has devoted all her focus on the layout of the facility and has hit a home run with the appearance. While some pieces are returning simply for popularity, it is the new pieces that can cause a shakeup in the routine of the museum. But things have come up roses as there is a great flow to the place and the timelines do not overrun one another. If you like the Jurassic Period, then you will find the T-rex and many others from that era. Or if you want to learn about the Ice Age, then yes, you are going to find the Saber-toothed Cat (Smilidon) and the Stegodon.
Hours of operation will be from noon to 6 p.m. Believe me, the two-year absence is going to be well worth the wait!
