National Fossil Day: it's a real thing

I made it to my first National Fossil Day event.

I had a few people giggle when they asked me what my plans were for the weekend and it probably does sound a little odd if fossils aren't your gig, but the event was really enjoyable.  

Seriously, it was.

National Fossil Day is, well, a national event, 

and our special day was held at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, 

tirelessly organized by my fossil friend and fellow club member, Pam.

Several members of the Fossil Club of Lee County were on hand to assist in manning our club table, including Dean in the above photo with Pam.

I don't know what that thing is in the poster but it's cool as hell!

The museum is small but it was a great space for us,

and has some interesting displays.

I've spent a lot of time considering this painting of a giant ground sloth.  Three tons and 18 feet tall, I'd almost rather see one of them than a t.rex:  equally interesting and probably a lot safer to observe up close.

I've been to a couple of fossil shows

but the emphasis there is on the vendors.

There were definitely things you could buy at NFD, 

for instance, these monochromatic yet appealing minerals.

And there was an arrowhead knapper who was making these amazing pieces of art on site.

If you wanted more information, you could take one of his clever business cards:

The true emphasis of NFD is education and there were 

plenty of highly educated and interesting people to talk to.

This is Dr. Richard Hulbert from the Florida Museum of Natural History.

He is sitting quietly in this photo but was ready and willing to answer anyone's questions.

So much to look at...

And this was the first time I witnessed a truly rabid children's dig.

There were no half-hearted toddlers looking confused by the concept; 

these kids were focused and competitive!

The kids' digs are always seeded with serious fossilers' rejects.  Being relatively new to the hobby, 

I couldn't help but snag a couple of the rejects for myself.

I WISH I had rejects like these!

I capped off the day as a guest of Pam 

at the Florida Paleontological Society's banquet

 where I got to hear Sharon Holte give her very interesting talk about the Thomas Farm dig, http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/thomasfarm/home/.

Cheers!