Celebrate Spring on Jekyll Island with the first annual Jekyll Island Mother Nature Festival on Saturday, April 18, 2009. The festival boasts numerous activities for families to enjoy the outdoors and explore Jekyll Island while being green-conscious. Be sure to check out the activities below:
  
Festival Highlights
 
Friday, April 17
 
Pre-Fest Beachsweep, 10 AM–12 Noon, Beachdeck
Join the Jekyll Island Authority as they clean the beach in preparation for Earth Day. Gloves and trash bags provided. Just bring some helpful hands!
 
 
Saturday, April 18
Eco-Friendly Craft Zone & Exhibitor Area, 10 AM – 4 PM, Georgia Sea Turtle Center
Make eco-friendly crafts and peruse the numerous arts and crafts vendors, local ecology groups, and green friendly businesses displaying their items and information. Also, step inside the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to learn about sea turtles and their habitat.
 
 
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- Regift Auction,
10 AM – 4 PM, Georgia Sea Turtle Center
Bid on a variety of items “re-gifted” to the Center in honor of the Mother Nature Festival. The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Re-gift Auction puts a spin on the typical silent auction. Proceeds go to the continuing operation of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. We still need donated items.
 
 
Family Fishing Day 10 AM – 2 PM,
Rixen Pond behind Tidelands Nature Center
Join the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division for an afternoon of fishing at Rixen Pond. Free fishing poles provided as well as tips and advice.
 
 
Helicopter Tours 10AM – 4PM,
Jekyll Island Airport
Take a helicopter tour above Jekyll Island with Dragonfly Helicopters. $25 per person.
 
 

Kite Flying Demonstration
11 AM – 1PM, Beach at Blackbeard’s Restaurant
Watch as Coastal Windsports demonstrates their kite flying skills on the beach. Free.
 
 

Herpetology Session
2:00 PM, Tidelands Nature Center
Join the staff at Tidelands in a hands-on demonstration of amphibians and reptiles that make their home on Jekyll Island.
 
 
Outdoor Excursions
Make reservations for a variety of outdoor adventures in Dolphin Tours, Off-Shore Fishing Trips, Horseback Rides on the Beach, Kayak Excursions, a Bird Ramble, or a Beach Ecology Walk.

For more information on all of the Mother Nature festival activities and outdoor excursions, visit: www.jekyllisland.com/mothernaturefestival

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Posted in April 2009, Beachscape | No Comments »

Chortles and shouts. Racing feet. Sticky fingers. These sights and sounds might seem unexpected in standard house museum environments. But this summer the Jekyll Island Museum aims to engage the youngest members of the community in the wonders of the past. Whether racing with barrel hoops, becoming stained glass artists, or jumping on pony hops, they are discovering Jekyll Island’s historic district as an active learning environment.

The Jekyll Island Museum offers children’s programs every Wednesday morning at 9:30 and 11:00 am. Designed for children 6-12, the 60-minute programs each shed light on the history of Jekyll Island. Museum interpreters lead children and their adult companions on a guided learning adventure through segments on Jekyll Island’s past.

“The programs are a fun way to excite children at a young age about history,” says Phyllis Gaska, a former elementary school teacher on the Jekyll Island Museum tour staff. “They are very concrete, and hands on, and active.

The Hands on History segments include the following:

Old-Fashioned Butter-Making: Take a whirlwind tour of a late 1800s southern kitchen at Club Cottage. Inspect and handle original kitchen items before heading outdoors for a lesson in old-fashioned butter-making. July 2, 2008, 9:30 am.

Colonial Games: Have fun learning the games the English, French, and African-American children of Jekyll Island might have played during the Colonial Period. July 2 & 30, 2008, 11:00 am.

Young Inventors’ Workshop: Discover a few of the famous inventors who vacationed on Jekyll Island in the Club Era, then replicate the island’s experiment in “green energy.” July 9, 2008, 9:30 am.

Club Era Games: View rare archival images of Jekyll Island Club Members at play, then try the sports that were popular in their day. July 9 and 23, 2008 at 11:00 am.

Architectural Scavenger Hunt: Follow a series of clues, searching the historic district for notable architectural details. July 16, 2008, 9:30 am

Stained Glass Studio: View two important works of American stained glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany, David Maitland Armstrong and Helen Armstrong inside of historic Faith Chapel. Be inspired to make your own masterpiece! July 16, 2008, 11:00 am.

Bridge Building: Visit Hollybourne Cottage, a mansion built for Charles Stewart Maurice, a partner in a bridge building company. Discover how houses can be like bridges, learn about different kinds of bridges, and create your own bridge. July 23, 2008, 9:30 am.

Native American Life: Jekyll Island has been a seasonal retreat for over 4,500 years. Learn about Native American culture on Jekyll Island, through such engaging supervised activities as atlatl target practice, pottery stamping, and bow drill fire-making. July 30, 2008, 9:30 am.

Program offerings are subject to change. Reservations are required. Admission for participants is $5 per person. Young children should be accompanied by an adult. Please call or visit the Jekyll Island Museum on Stable Road for details or for information about its
other tour offerings, 912-635-4036.

Tags: arts and crafts, club era, colonial games, faith chapel, historic disctric, Hollybourne Cottage, Jekyll Island History Museum, kids programs
Posted in July 2008 | No Comments »