Norwood Arbor Day and Fossil Fair 4-2014

Ruffin Tucker, Jonathan Fain, Richard Chandler, and Joy Herrington set up displays under a tent near the door at City Hall where Vince Schneider and Patricia Weaver, Paleontologists at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, explained their impressive display of fossils showing migratory changes when a passage opened between the continents of North and South America allowing some animals evolving in the North, like the horse and camel, to go South and some evolving in the South, like the sloth and armadillo, to go North.  Also nearby, James Bain and Mary Boulton helped young and old wash and sieve dirt in search of fossils from the Pungo River and Yorktown deposits at Aurora . Despite all the activities of Arbor Day: train rides, balloon jumping, live music, antique cars, air show, and vendors of all descriptions, James and Mary were stars at Norwood . At the end of the day they were soggy wet, dirty, and bone tired. Concentration, focus, and curiosity helped the young ladies in the photograph using a 'face in the plate' technique to find and identify fossils that were so small they would wash through Mary and James' sieves while the young man focused on working out the shark tooth puzzle. They endured, without complaint, in sunshine hot enough to melt the plastic covers of a display box on that table. Taking part in Arbor Day was rewarding in many ways. There was a public presentation of fossils donated by the Furr family to the Museum from the collection of our member, Tony Furr, now deceased. And, we can't forget that great bar-b-que dinner courtesy of Norwood and the hearty appreciation expressed by those who stopped by our displays.