Where We’ve Been

2021

September 18-19, Old Deerfield Craft Fair, Deerfield, MA. Real dinosaur footprint fossils, plus sets of emu feet and turkey feet to show how closely they relate to them. Reba-Jean Shaw-Pichette and Piper Pichette’s wonderful scientific nature drawing activity.

2020

December 4, Jurassic Roadshow Zoom! for the Great Greenfield DinoFest. This was our first on-line event. Videos of the presentations are linked to this website’s Home page.

2019

April 18, 11-3, Springfield (MA) Science Museum, Dinosaur Day for School Vacation Week.

2018

April 14, Cambridge Science Festival – Carnival and Robot Zoo, noon to 4:00 p.m. Over 100 science activities for a big family day to kick of a week of science in Cambridge. We had real dinosaur footprints and fish fossils, microscopes and a load of rocks to look at, and an interactive exhibit on the formation of the Connecticut River Valley.

February 22, “Dragons and Dinosaurs!” at the Springfield Science Museum, Springfield, MA. A few hundred children and their parents came by our exhibit to see real fossils, look at rocks and minerals through a microscope, and make their own dino-dragon to take home—or were they dragon-dinos?   https://springfieldmuseums.org/

2017

October 21-22, Scarecrow in the Park! Bernardston, MA. Our “scaredino” was one of many Halloween scarecrows at this annual event, sponsored by Bernardston Kiwanis to raise scholarship funds. Kids at the Jurassic Roadshow tent could make a mini-scarecrow out of corn husks and press dinosaur footprints into clay.

October 7, Greenfield Dino Fest! on Bank Row, Greenfield, MA. Fossils, rocks, and dinosaur games, “Dexter and the Dinosaurs” children’s play, co-sponsored by Piti Theatre, the Second Congregational Church, and Jurassic Roadshow, with contributions by the Historical Society of Greenfield.

September 23-24, Old Deerfield Craft Fair, Deerfield, MA. Kids made their own collections of shells, rocks, and fossil corals in “Dexter Marsh’s Cabinet,” created botanical drawings from living plants, and relaxed with dinosaur puzzles and books.

June 3, WGBY’s Asparagus Fest on the Hadley Town Common  Our new display of Dexter Marsh’s 1846 “cabinet” of fossil footprints; geology of Massachusetts and the Connecticut River Valley; and art supplies and plant specimens for visitors to create their own botanical drawings.

February 18 to March 26, Holyoke Heritage State Park Visitors’ Center, Holyoke, MA. “Reading the Rocky Book of the Past: Dinosaur Footprints in the Connecticut River Valley” exhibit, with a showing of Dinosaur Train’s “What’s at the Center of the Earth?” movie.

February 25, PBS Kids’ Family Fan Fair, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 1000 Hall of Fame Ave., Springfield, MA. Special Guest “Buddy” from Dinosaur Train joined Jurassic Roadshow’s craft table at this celebration of kids, fun, and learning.

2016

September 17-18, Old Deerfield Craft Fair, Deerfield, MA – Dinosaur footprint crafts for children at one of the top craft fairs in Massachusetts.

September 17, the Granby Dino Fest, Granby, MA – This charming small town celebrates its place in the history of dinosaur footprint discovery in a wonderful annual craft fair on the Granby Common by the Congregational Church.

June 4, WGBY Asparagus Festival, Hadley, MA – We will be just one of the offerings at a day of music, crafts, beer — and, oh yes, asparagus!

April 16, Cambridge (MA) Science Festival’s kick-off event, the Science Carnival and Robot Zoo, on the grounds of the Cambridge Public Library.

February 24, Carnegie Library, Turners Falls, MA. Afternoon program for home schoolers and the general public.

February 20, PBS Kids Fun Fair at the Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA. We were paired to represent PBS’s popular “Dinosaur Train” television show.

February 3, Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, MA. Evening program geared primarily for adults.

2015

November 14, Greenfield Savings Bank, Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA.

November 14, Rock, Gem, Jewelry & Fossil Show, Greenfield Community College, College Drive, Greenfield, MA. We were there with exhibitors, sellers, and excellent talks.

September 19-20, Old Deerfield Craft Fair, 10 Memorial Street, Deerfield, MA. Dinosaur footprints and craft activities are part of this high-quality craft fair on the grounds of Memorial Hall Museum.

September 12, Granby Dinofest, Town Common, Granby, MA. Arts, crafts, food, music, and dinosaurs, the town celebrates its historic connection to the discovery of dinosaur footprints.

Springfield Museums, 21 Edwards St., Springfield, MA, 10:00 – 3:00. The whole museum complex celebrated the history and paleohistory of the dinosaur tracks of the Connecticut River Valley.

April 18, Cambridge (MA) Science Festival’s Carnival and Robot Zoo This was Jurassic Roadshow’s fifth year participating in Cambridge’s exuberant celebration of the sciences.

April 18, Great Falls Discovery Center, Turners Falls, MA. The Jurassic Roadshow Track Pack exhibited their excellent fossil collections & and geologist Dan Vellone gave a talk on the fossil evidence for the connections between birds and dinosaurs.

March 28-29, Western Massachusetts Mineral, Jewelry, and Fossil Show at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, sponsored by the Connecticut Valley Mineral Club. The club broke their record, attracting over 1,600 visitors this year.

2014

18th Annual Jewelry, Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show & Sale, Saturday, November 8, Greenfield Community College, 9:30 – 4:00.  Once again, Jurassic Roadshow joined exhibitors of rocks and minerals, gemstones and fossils, jewelry and fine art.

Next Stop: Holyoke! Holyoke Heritage State Park, MA, October 11  Jurassic Roadshow enjoyed being part of this 3-day extravaganza of events, exhibits, and activities all over town.

Granby Dinofest, Granby, MA, September 13   The Dinofest has crafts, food, and terrific live music. There were lots of dino-themed items among all the various crafts.

Pioneer Valley Outdoor Fair, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA, April 29-30  John Fellows represented us with his display of geological maps and fossils, including a map of where dinosaur footprints can be found.

Robot Zoo at the Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge, MA, April 19  This is the kick-off for the 10-day festival that takes place all over Cambridge. Thousands of people come every year to this nerd- and family-friendly day of over 100 scientific exhibits and activities.

Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo, Fine Arts Center, UMass-Amherst, April 13   For the hour prior to the show — all the way from Australia! — people were able to see real dinosaur footprints at our table in the lobby.

Connecticut Valley Mineral Club Annual Show, Northampton, MA, March 29-30  This was our second time participating in this big rock & fossil show in western Massachusetts, which drew  over 1200 people.

Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Sunday, March 23  Our metal dilophosaurus made his entrance into Holyoke. His green tie showed that even a dinosaur can be Irish for a day!  The dilophosaurus was created by Jessica Denehy of Patina Metal Designs in Deerfield, MA.

2013

Pioneer Valley Institute’s 16th Annual Jewelry, Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA, November 9   We had our usual line-up of fossil displays, as well as a talk by Dr. Robert Herbert on Roswell Field, the Gill farmer and businessman who owned the most productive “bird track” quarry of the time.

Woods Memorial Library, Barre, MA, October 3   Harry Sharbaugh and Sarah Doyle presented an evening of rocks, fossils, and dinosaur track history at this beautiful historic library in the center of Barre.

Smithsonian Museum Day at Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, MA, September 28  Free museum admission for this special day. We had a few fossils on display outside in front of the museum, which is the original  Deerfield Academy building, where the first scientist to examine dinosaur footprints, Edward Hitchcock, taught and was headmaster.

Granby Dinosaur Day, Granby, MA, Saturday, September 21  The town of Granby has taken its dinosaur heritage to heart with an annual festival.

Carnegie Library, Turners Falls, July 23   Dan Vellone, the Northeast Regional State Geologist from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, joined Sarah Doyle and children’s librarian Linda Hickman for a morning program for kids.

Jurassic Roadshow “Track Pack” at the Greenfield Savings Bank, Turners Falls, June 29  The Track Pack were welcomed back to the Greenfield Savings Bank for two hours of fossil displays and a chance to chat with the public about their collections.

“Greenfield’s Lost Museum, 1846-1853: The Dinosaur Tracks of Dexter Marsh,” talk at Greenfield Community College, May 8, by Robert Herbert  Dexter Marsh created a museum for his fossil track collection. The paper is on the Mount Holyoke College web site:  https://ida.mtholyoke.edu/xmlui/handle/10166/3203

Jurassic Roadshow “Home Team” at Barton Cove, May 4   Fossil exhibits and two guided walks to the old dinosaur track quarry. Cosponsored by Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center.

Pioneer Valley Outdoor Fair, Westfield State University, April 27   Jurassic Roadshow had fossil exhibits and led a walk to the dinosaur trackway at nearby Stanley Park.

Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge, MA, April 13   The CFS’s Science Carnival day is one of our few ventures outside the Connecticut River Valley region.

Connecticut Valley Mineral Club’s Western Mass. Mineral, Jewelry & Fossil Show, Clarion Hotel, Northampton, MA, March 23-24   More than 1100 people came over the two days, making it the club’s most successful show so far.

2012

Pioneer Valley Institute’s 15th Annual Jewelry, Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, Greenfield Community College, November 10   The Jurassic Roadshow had fossil tables and Paul Olsen again came up from New York — and a home that had been flooded by Hurricane Sandy — to give a terrific talk to 75 dinosaur enthusiasts, from very young to, um, a lot older.

Amherst Common, Amherst, MA, October 13  Our fossil display tables were joined by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, children’s book author Ralph Masiello), the Jones Library, artist Nancy Howard, faculty and students from Amherst and Mount Holyoke colleges, dilophosaurus metal sculpture by Jessica Denehy, Freda the Coelosaurus, live music by Jay Mankita, and sun-viewing telescopes of the Amherst Area Association of Amateur Astronomers.

Franklin County Fair (Greenfield), Festival of the Hills (Conway), and Gill Crafts Fair, September   We were at all three events to give out information about our project and to sell raffle tickets for two prize fossil dinosaur footprints from Nash’s in South Hadley/Granby.

Greenfield Savings Bank, Turners Falls, MA, July 14  People doing their banking that day had a surprise: a chance to see a bit of local dinosaur heritage.

Dinosaur Days at the Old Deerfield Craft Fair, Deerfield, MA, June 16-17  The Old Deerfield Craft Fair, a popular, well-respected juried show, included Dinosaur Days, with a dinosaur craft contest, children’s dinosaur activities, and fossil displays from Jurassic Roadshow.

Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge, MA, May 5   As far as we know, we were the only participants from the western part of the state in this citywide festival, and one of the few who focused on earth sciences.

2011

Pioneer Valley Institute’s 14th Annual Jewelry, Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, at the Greenfield High School, November 12   Jurassic Roadshow had 7 display tables plus talks by Prof. Mark McMenamin (Mount Holyoke College), independent scholar John Fellows, Richard Little (President of the Pioneer Valley Institute, Founder of the show, and emeritus professor of Greenfield Community College), and Eric Greene of Treasure Mountain Mining.

Greenfield (MA) Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Founding of Franklin County, July 23  The Roadshow was the largest single event at this day-long street fair. Prof. Paul Olsen (Columbia University), Prof. Mark McMenamin (Mount Holyoke College), Richard Little (emeritus, Greenfield Community College), Nick McDonald (Winchester School, Simsbury CT), Joe Kopera (Massachusetts Geological Survey), John Fellows, and Steve Winters (Holyoke Community College) joined knowledgeable collectors Paul Fontaine, Ed Gregory, and Harry Sharbaugh, plus juvenile book author Jeannine Atkins, nature artist Annie Chappell, journalist Mark Roessler, and the Historical Society of Greenfield.

Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge, MA, April 13   With all the high-tech, medical, engineering, and other scientific businesses and museums — oh, yes, and Harvard and MIT — there’s plenty to keep the city busy for a whole week, but we were there for just one day. This was our first appearance at CSF and our first outside the Connecticut River Valley.

2010

Great Falls Discovery Center, Turners Falls, MA, August 28  The first Roadshow was set up in the beautiful, historical Great Hall of this U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service facility in Turners Falls, a small town neighboring Greenfield. Paleontologist Patrick Getty (University of Connecticut) was joined by Nick McDonald (Winchester School, Simsbury CT), Steve Winters (Holyoke Community College), Ed Gregory, and Paul Fontaine. Many visitors that day brought in fossils from home to show to the experts and see if they could identify them. The event was such a success that we decided to truly take it on the road.

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Jurassic Roadshow is a project of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (Deerfield), funded in part under a John and Abigail Adams Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show and Sale is sponsored by the Pioneer Valley Institute (PVI).

                     

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