BEACON SENIOR NEWS
Dinosaurs
aren’t just for kids
Senior volunteers dig their work at Fruita dino museum By Diana Barnett
T
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om Lawrence became a dinosaur lover at age 6. Now at 74, he has found his second childhood and a second calling as a volunteer at Dinosaur Journey in Fruita. While living in California, Lawrence became acquainted with George Callison, a paleontologist who introduced him to fossil exploration and took him on digs. After moving to Grand Junction, Lawrence brought his sons to Dinosaur Journey and started volunteering once he retired from School District 51 in 2010. “I loved going in the field and on field trips with paleontologist John Foster and museum director Mike Perry,” said Lawrence. “A highlight of my time was when a family in Appleton discovered fossilized bones of Cretaceous fish in Manco shale. Their youngster found a tooth and brought it in to be identified. Our
museum staff went out to investigate and participated in the dig.” Grand Valley native Dorothy Stewart, 79, started volunteering at the museum in 1993. She has worked as a docent in all three Museum of Western Colorado locations. “When I started, the dinosaur operations of the museum were located in the old JC Penney building downtown,” said Stewart. “I worked in clay casting, then eventually came to the lab in our current location.” Stewart absolutely loves working in the lab. Her current project is piecing together a bone that was taken from the Curecanti site near Blue Mesa Reservoir on the Gunnison River. “We don’t know what it is from yet,” said Stewart, “But it’s exciting to know you’re the first person to touch something that old and the
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Dinosaur Journey volunteers Tom Lawrence, Kay Fredette and Dorothy Stewart at a dig site.
