Member Newsletter Fall 2023

Upcoming Events • Aug - Oct

Venom Show

Famous Artists Portfolio Program

Parrot Playhouse

9:30am - 5pm (Monday - Friday)

10:30am - 5pm (Saturday & Sunday)

Briefly closed 11:45am - 1pm

Weichert Realtors - Domke & Associates presents Wings of Summer, Butterfly House!

9:30am - 5pm (Monday - Friday) 10:30am - 5pm (Saturday & Sunday)

Now - Aug 13

Senator K. Maurice & Marianne Johannessen Foundation presents Walk on the Wild Side Animal Show

11am & 12pm

Tuesday - Sunday (Now - Aug 13)

Saturdays & Sundays (Aug 19 - Aug 26)

Saturday - Monday, (Sept 2 - Sept 4)

Paul Schwartz MD, Shasta Orthopaedics Presents Water Wonders

Wednesdays & Thursdays

2:30pm (Now - Aug 31)

2pm (Sept 6 - Oct 26)

Sherrill Bambauer presents Little Explorers: Out of this World

Thursdays, 10am – 11am

Aug: Out of this World

Sept: Fall Fun

Oct: Nocturnal Animals!

Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks!

Training tips for your dog

Saturdays, 2:30pm, Now - Aug 26

Betty Fitzpatrick presents Sensory Hour

Saturday, Aug 5, 9am - 10am Register at turtlebay.org

Charlie Rabbit & Friends

Saturday, Aug 5, 10am - 11am

First 5 Shasta presents First 5 Story Time

Saturday, Aug 5, 11am - 12pm

Saturday, Oct 7, 11am - 12pm

Paint Night at the Museum

Saturday, Aug 5, 4:30pm - 7pm Register at turtlebay.org

Monday, Aug 7, 11am

Museum After Hours

Friday, Aug 11, 6pm - 9pm

Friday, Oct 27, 6pm - 9pm

Family 2nd Saturday: Dog (and Cat!) Days of Summer!

Saturday, Aug 12, 11am - 2pm

Redding Electric Utility presents Science Saturday: Science of Flight

Saturday, Aug 19, 11am - 2pm

Volunteer Info Hour

Saturday, Aug 19, 3pm - 4pm

Guided Garden Walk

Saturday, Aug 26, 10am

Saturday, Sept 30, 10am

Saturday, Oct 28, 10am

Art Studio Saturday: Color a Community Pet Park!

Saturday, Aug 26, 11am - 2pm

Charlie Rabbit & Friends

Saturday, Sept 2, 10am - 11am

Vulture Awareness Day

Saturday, Sept 2, 2:30pm

Family 2nd Saturday: Amazing Autumn Adventures!

Saturday, Sept 9, 11am - 2pm

DSLR Photography Workshop: September Sundial

Saturday, Sept 9, 4pm - 6:30pm Register at turtlebay.org

Caffeinate for a Cause

Thursday, Sept 14, 7am - 9am & 2pm - 4pm

Plant Talk: California Native Plants For Your Landscape

Saturday, Sept 16, 10am - 12pm

Redding Electric Utility presents Science Saturday: Explore the Power of Weather

Saturday, Sept 16, 11am - 2pm

Fall Orientation

Wednesday, Sept 20, 4pm - 5pm

Art Studio Saturday: Make Homemade Art Robots!

Saturday, Sept 23, 11am - 2pm

Harvest in the Garden

Saturday, Oct 7th

17th Annual Fall Plant Sale

Saturday, Oct 7

Member Presale, 9am - 11am

Public Sale, 11am - 3pm

Charlie Rabbit & Friends - at the Fall Plant Sale!

Saturday, Oct 7, 9am - 1pm

Plant Talk: How to Select, Place, and Care for Trees for our Hot and Drought Prone Northern Central Valley Region

Saturday, Oct 14, 10am - 12pm

Family 2nd Saturday: Solar System Explorations!

Saturday, Oct 14, 11am - 2pm

Oktoberfest 2023

Saturday, Oct 14, 5pm - 8pm

Animal Parade

Fridays, 2pm

Oct 20 - Feb 9, 2024

Redding Electric Utility presents Science Saturday: Spooky Science

Saturday, Oct 21, 11am - 2pm

Predator vs. Prey Indoor Animal Show

Saturdays, 2pm

Oct 21 - Feb 10, 2024

Amazing Animal Senses

Sundays, 2pm

Oct 22 - Feb 11, 2024

Art Studio Saturday: Spine Tingling Scratch Art

Saturday, Oct 28, 11am - 2pm

Donors Making an Impact

In Memorium – Diantha Reynolds

Turtle Bay lost a wonderful woman and supporter recently. Diantha Reynolds was a key member of the Turtle Bay Volunteer Auction team for more than 20 years! She was particularly instrumental in creating Auction items that helped the event thrive. She was also very generous and always supported the event with a Patron Table Sponsorship. Year after year she gave her time and talent! Turtle Bay will miss her greatly.

Turtle Bay is grateful for supporters like Moore & Bogener, Inc. for their continued annual support of the Park! Aaron Moore and Collin Bogener are North State attorneys with big hearts for our community. Currently, they are Major sponsors of our Summer exhibition Cats & Dogs which highlights the science of animal behaviors to explore the skills, intelligence, and behaviors of cats and dogs. With young families of their own, Moore & Bogener, Inc. believes that it is important to support institutions like Turtle Bay that build community pride, bring cultural enrichment, and contribute to the prosperity of the region.

Turtle Bay For All – Presented by Drs. Promila & Paul Dhanuka and Family

Turtle Bay is proud to offer Turtle Bay for All, a year-round access program offering reduced admission for EBT card holders. The cost of museum admission can be a barrier for many low-income families. With the Dhanuka Family’s help, Turtle Bay is able to offer this discount and make the learning, and fun of Turtle Bay more accessible for all people in our community!

Thursday Sept 14

turtle bay exploration park

Moore & Bogener, Inc.

for supporting Forest Adventure Playground Thank

Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact

Sept 16 - Dec 31

More snow is coming!

Presented by Carolina Girimonte In Memory of Nick L & Claudia Girimonte

Redding has a reputation for sunshine and heat, but we know that it snows here too. And when it snows it REALLY snows. Last winter was wild! Why does this happen some years and not others? Why does it seem like it snows locally more often now than it did 20 years ago... but less often than it did in the 1930s? Just in time for winter, we are hosting OMSI’s Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact. This highly interactive and immersive exhibition explores the vital role that snow plays in our global climate system and available water resources.

Peek inside the snowpack and discover how it changes over time. Meet animals that make their homes there. Walk through a snowstorm to get an up-close look at the crystals that make up different types of storms. Discover how snow shapes and sustains life on Earth and learn about snow’s vital roles in sustaining our water supply and cooling our planet. Explore climate adaptation by balancing resources and making tradeoffs. From the wonder of snowflakes and building snow people to unique stories from the tundra, this is an opportunity to explore all the ways this fundamental weather phenomenon impacts our lives - no matter where we live. In fact, snow is so important to our region that we curated a special companion exhibition about our local snowy icon, Mt. Shasta, and its glaciers!

AI: Your Mind & The Machine

Sept 23 - Jan 7, 2024

Presented by Dr. Eric & Tiffany Blasingame and The Salter Families

What is artificial intelligence?

This may be one of the most exciting and relevant questions of our time. Dive into the meaning of artificial intelligence with AI: Your Mind & The Machine, an exhibition from The Relayer Group. With tons of hands-on interactives, touchscreens, and examples from history and popular cultures, this exhibition gives visitors an up-close look at exactly what thinking machines are… and what they might become. This is the perfect STEAM exhibition to introduce children and adults to the technology of artificial intelligence.

Predator vs Prey

Saturdays, 2pm • Oct 21 - Feb 10, 2024

It’s either eat or be eaten in the wild.

How do prey escape? What makes a predator successful? Come join us for this up close experience and learn what makes our animal ambassadors successful in the role they play in the food web. During this program, guests will see natural behaviors that a prey animal may use to escape, such as running, climbing or flying away; learn how they might hide, and how their senses allow them to hear, see, or feel their way to safety.

Predators must overcome their prey’s adaptations. What weapons might they have to catch a meal, large claws or sharp teeth? They may rely on their hearing to listen for the pitter patter of mouse feet, or follow the scent trail to a rodent burrow. Being a predator is a hard life, but animals have adapted ways to overcome their prey’s defenses, after all, it is the survival of the fittest.

Throughout the winter season, each week will feature different ambassadors. These intimate programs are in the Mill Building, where you will have the animals very up close and personal, a bird may fly right over your head, or you may find yourself with a raccoon sharing your bench. So, come out and spend your winter with us!

Oktoberfest is Coming

Saturday, October 14 • 5pm - 8pm

Beer, Music and Sausages!

Join Turtle Bay Exploration Park for Oktoberfest in Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp! This annual family event is the perfect way to celebrate fall with beer, tasty food, and live music! Don’t forget to dress in your best Oktoberfest attire! All funds raised support the educational programs and exhibitions at Turtle Bay.

Visit turtlebay.org/oktoberfest

for more details!

Education at Turtle Bay

As summer comes to a close...

View all our education events at turtlebay.org/education

Our Education Department shifts gears from Discovery Camps to school support. Over the course of the school year, we see over 10,000 students on field trips to Turtle Bay from Shasta and Butte Counties to Sacramento and Southern Oregon. Our educators aim to give students hands-on learning opportunities beyond the lessons given within the Museum and Forest Camp. We facilitate educator-led classes with a number of themes; two of our most popular being “Wintu Ways” and “Engineering Design.” During limited times and dates during the school year, we also offer Animal Classes and Garden Classes. Every year we evaluate the interest and effectiveness of these classes based on teacher feedback and try to adapt to be what our students need.

Along with giving students the opportunity to visit our Park and participate in hands-on learning, we also offer resources for teachers and educators to take into their classrooms and supplement their curriculum with ready-to-go art, science, and math lesson kits. We are so proud to be able to offer these experiences to students and schools to help broaden their worldviews and inspire them to explore the natural world, the different kinds of cultures in our world, history, and art.

Learning Resources

Take learning home! Whether you are a school teacher, homeschool your kids, or are just looking for weekend activities, we have resources for you.

Lending Library

Turtle Bay’s Lending Library offers classroom kits from various curriculum sources for classrooms up to 32 students. Activities are perfect for the classroom, after-school programs, or camps.

Famous Artists Portfolio Program

The FREE Famous Artists Program allows users to present reproductions of significant artworks to students in the classroom. Suggested lessons and follow-up art activities are suggested for each portfolio. No artistic experience is necessary!

Transforming the Gardens

Winter Wonderland is almost here!

Tickets are on sale Sept 1 at Reddinggardenoflights.org

From sunny morning walks to magical winter nights, the McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is a place where memories are made year-round. During the holiday season, the space is transformed into the renowned winter wonderland of Redding Garden of Lights! So, how does Turtle Bay accomplish such a drastic change between seasons?

The set-up process begins in August with the lighting of hundreds of trees in the Gardens. Our team lights the pathways, places structures, and ensures that the show is ready for visitors. According to Josh McNulty, Director of Grounds & Maintenance, the team’s work is not finished once guests begin experiencing the holiday magic. “We actually add a lot to the show even after it starts. Three weeks into the show we’re still adding lighting,” says McNulty. With over one million lights, many would expect the need for an astronomical power supply to fuel the show, however, most of the lights in the Gardens are LED.

Another factor to consider in the show’s preparation is how the team continues to care for trees and plants in the midst of the festivities. Gardens Supervisor, Hannah Sweeney, explains that the team has been able to work around the plants or relocate certain species to accommodate the show’s features. A large part of the landscape is actually untouched during the set-up process (unless you consider the deer, squirrels, and other animals that the team sees while constructing the elements of the show).

Our team is in the beginning stages of assembly for Garden of Lights, with lots of new features to look forward to this season… After all the show is a year-round effort! According to Garden of Lights Coordinator, Thyda Hoth, “There’s always lots of behind-the-scenes work. Whether it’s traveling to other light shows for new ideas or holding workshops to talk about how we are going to expand 4-5 years down the road.”

17th Annual Fall Plant Sale

Fall plant Sale

turtle bay exploration Park

MUSEUM, FOREST CAMP, STORE:

SUMMER PARK HOURS (NOW-SEPT 4)

9am - 5pm (Mon - Fri)

10am - 5pm (Sat & Sun)

FALL PARK HOURS (STARTS SEPT 5)

9am - 4pm (Wed - Fri)

10am - 4pm (Sat & Sun)

Closed Mon & Tue

BOTANICAL GARDENS

7am - Dusk (Everyday)

TURTLE BAY NURSERY

9am - 1pm (Wed - Sat)

1100 Arboretum Drive

MUSEUM STORE

Located inside the Museum

NUMBERS TO KNOW:

Class/Field Trip Registration

530-242-3108

General Info 530-243-8850

Facility Rentals 530-242-3180

Famous Artists 530-242-3148

Membership 530-242-3131

Volunteer Info 530-242-3155

ADMISSION

Free for Members

For general admission visit turtlebay.org