SOLON — For a few hours last Thursday, the patio and back lawn of the Solon Public Library resembled the Jurassic Age as a flock of dinosaurs, small and large, had taken over the space for the second annual Dinosaurs at Dusk event.
Lily Smith, Youth Services Librarian, explained.
“Last year our director (Liz King), with ‘The Dinosaur Man (Jack Neuzil),’ did a Dinosaurs at Dusk program and we decided it should be an annual thing for the library; we should become ‘The Dinosaur Library.’”
Library staff and volunteers brought out the 40+ dinosaurs, handcrafted by Neuzil out of wood and papier mâché’, and placed them on the patio and back yard. Sensory bins (tubs filled with ‘moon sand’ – a flour and oil mix, plastic dinosaurs, and plastic plants) and dinosaur crafts were also set up to provide activities for children. A table of books about dinosaurs was also set out so the kids could read to their favorite dinosaur.
While Jack’s dinosaurs were in the spotlight, it was he who took center stage.
“Last year he gave a wonderful presentation, and this year he’s available to talk to the kids. They get really excited hearing about how he made them,” Lily said.
“It is a good feeling when you didn’t think anything was going to happen to it,” said Jack, who at the age of 92 was surprised his dinosaurs, which he started crafting some 25 years ago, are still a hit with not only the kids but their parents as well. “I made them for the school for the blind (in Vinton) for the kids who lived there, and they (the school administration) didn’t want them anymore, so the Solon Library said they’d take them. The whole idea was to get kids to read, you know, create an interest. If they’re interested in something, they’ll read about it. They won’t read unless they’re interested, and if you create interest, they’ll learn.”
Attendees also had the opportunity to vote for a name for the Brachiosaurus that lives on the upper patio by the main entrance to the Library. “Bramble,” “Brawny,” “Barnaby,” and “Bernard” were on the ballot with Bernard winning the majority.
“It’s amazing how many kids like dinosaurs,” said Jack. “They just do.”
(From right) Sela Bartlett, Joanna Bartlett, Eva Bartlett, Paisley Green, and Sarah Green enjoy a sensory bin with sand, toy dinosaurs, and plastic plants during the Solon Public Library’s second annual Dinosaurs at Dusk event Thursday, August 3.