Heritage Park hosts first Dino Dig
By Betsy Ryan
Farmer Staff Writer
Sandy Rieker’s goal as the Director of Outreach at the Pioneer Museum is to plant the seed of loving museums, history and heritage in the people of McKenzie County. And, fortunately for the parents of McKenzie County, she includes small children in her charge.
On Friday, July 14, Rieker organized the first ever Dino Dig at the Heritage Park.
“What I really wanted was an excuse to play in the sand with the babies,” laughed Rieker. “I talked to the board and they helped us build a 10’x10’ sand box for the Dino Dig.”
There were several things that Rieker was trying to introduce to the preschool-aged kids who attended the Dino Dig. First, she wanted to get families in to the Heritage Park.
“The Heritage Park is full of historic buildings from the area,” said Rieker. “There is old playground equipment and some really neat stuff to check out. This event was aimed at helping people know where the park is and what it has to offer.”
The second thing that Rieker intended to introduce to the kids was the Bookmobile.
“We arranged for the Bookmobile to make a stop at the event,” said Rieker. “Their shelves were full of dinosaur books so that kids could borrow some books and learn more about what we talked about at the Dino Dig. I also wanted the kids to get familiar with the Bookmobile.”
The third thing that Rieker wanted to accomplish at the Dino Dig was to get kids excited about paleontology.
“I am no expert on dinosaurs,” said Rieker. “But, I wanted the kids to learn the basics and, if it interested them, have some exposure that would push them on to learn more.”
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