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FOCUS
Entertainment supplement
to The Battalion
Thursday, July 16 1981
Children learn to live
with nature at day camp
By Denise Richter
Battalion Staff
Why does a duck have a flat
bill?
Why are snakes important?
Children in the Bryan-
College Station area are finding
out the answers to these and
Before each
program begins,
possible hazards
and the way to
avoid them are
explained.
other nature-related questions
through the Summer Nature
Camp, a program of the Brazos
Valley Museum of Natural Sci
ence.
"We're trying to make chil
dren aware of the world around
them," museum programs dire
ctor Andy Woods said. "We
want to educate them in a fun
way."
Activities at the camp include
aquatic studies, nature walks,-
live animal studies, environ
mental awareness games and
nature crafts.
The program emphasizes
outdoor safety. Woods said. Be
fore each program begins, possi
ble hazards and the way to avoid
them are explained.
"We always have some in
juries like insect stings and
scrapes but nothing major,"
Woods said. "Because we spend
a lot of time outdoors, we can
practically guarantee fire ant
stings, but nothing more serious
than that."
Five camp programs are held
during the summer. Three two-
week sessions are held for 7 to 12
year olds and two one-week ses
sions are held for 4 to 6 year
olds. The last camp session for
1981 begins Monday, July 20.
Contact the museum (779-2195)
for more information.
"The younger children (4 to 6
year olds) can be taught just as
much as the older group,"
Woods said. "We get concepts
across to them by using living
animals.
"For example, by showing
them live snakes, we can show
them that you can't always tell a
poisonous snake from a non-
poisonous one and because of
that, you should leave all snakes
alone. As in all of our programs,
we stress safety along with re
spect for other living things."
While the summer nature
camp program is only for chil
dren, the museum sponsors
other programs designed for
adults. One adult program plan
ned for the fall concerns energy
and the human influence in the
Brazos Valley, Woods said.
Programs on insects, birds, re
ptiles, astronomy and other sci
ence-related topics will also be
offered, he said.
The cost for these programs
varies depending on the mate
rials used, he said, but is usually
$5. The adult program is usually
held for IVz hours on three con
secutive Saturdays.
The museum is also used as a
laboratory by Texas A&M Uni
versity museum science stu
dents, Woods said. University
students work on exhibits, prog
rams or teach classes in natural
science or natural history, he
said.
The museum was founded in
1961 by the Bryan-College Sta
tion branch of the American
Association of University
Jelly Belly makers
can’t meet demand
United Press International
OAKLAND, Calif. — Presi
dent Reagan's proclivity for
Jelly Belly jelly beans is a boon
to Herman Goelitz Inc., which
has experienced its biggest
upsurge in business in 103
years of candy-making.
The firm, with production
facilities in Oakland and
North Chicago, now pro
duces about 18 million of the
diminutive confections daily.
However, that isn't enough
to the satisfy a sky-rocketing
demand created by media dis
closures the president is an
avid Jelly Belly fan.
"We've taken aggressive
steps to bring supply in line
with demand and expect to
accomplish this goal within
the next eight months," said
Goelitz' President Herman
Rowland.
The Jelly Belly jelly bean
was introduced in 1976.
The most popular
exhibit with
children is the
touch-table.
gets the stuff out of the cases
and into their hands," Woods
said.
Since the museum is a non
profit organization, it has to be
supported by private sources.
The museum receives funds
from the United Way, the Aston
Foundation, a private, non
profit foundation for the arts
and humanities, and from indi
vidual contributions.
People interested in support
ing the museum can become
members. Membership services
include a quarterly newsletter
and special bulletins, special
discounts at the museum gift
shop and reduced fees on all
museum programs.
Membership categories are:
student — $5 contribution; asso
ciate — $10; family — $20; con
tributing — $35; supporting —
$50; sustaining—$100; donor —
$250 and patron (lifetime mem
ber) — $1,000.
The museum is open from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 5
p.m. Sunday. It is closed on
Mondays.
Women. It is a non-profit, edu
cational organization designed
to emphasize the relationship
between people and the natural
environment through exhibits,
classes, lectures, field trips, spe
cial programs and tours.
Groups interested in touring
the museum should call ahead,
Woods said. During the school
year, the museum averages four
tours a week, he said.
Museum exhibits are only
part of the tour. Woods said.
"The concepts that we are trying
to get across are presented by
the tour guide. The exhibits only
give the kids something to look
at while we talk."
Exhibits include living anim
als, artifacts and stuffed animals
donated to the museum by tax
idermists. The museum will
accept any contributions of re
levant materials. Woods said.
The most popular exhibit with
children is the touch-table,
Woods said. Shells, snake skins,
a stuffed squirrel and cotton rat
and a 150-million-year-old fossil
of a turtle can all be found on the
touch-table. "The touch-table
Vintage
for sale
cognac
in U.S.
United Press International
Would you spend $3,750 for a
decanter of cognac more than
100 years old?
One thousand consumers in
America and 200 more else
where in the world will have a
chance to do just that when Sam
Jay Aaron and Marc Platt intro
duce the first of their potable col
lectibles this fall.
"It's the ultimate Christmas
gift product," the two New Yor
kers said in a recent interview.
"It's a novelty," Aaron
added.
Ordinarily cognac that old is
used by French distillers to
blend with younger wines.
This lot is irreplaceable be
cause it was made from pre
phylloxera grapes. French
vineyards were devastated in
the late 19th century by phyllox
era, a plant disease. American
rootstock grafted on to save the
surviving vines changed the
character of the grapes.
The cognac Aaron and Platt
bought for their Le Chateau du
Vin, Inc., was the last reserve of
unblended, pre-phylloxera cog
nac from the venerable firm of
Hardy, in Charente, France.
Aaron said it will be first in a
series of remarkable wines and
spirits offered to investors, col
lectors and connoisseurs
through retailers licensed to sell
spirits products.
Aaron estimated the cognac
itself is worth $1,500 to $2,000
per 25-ounce bottle. The rest of
the price covers a handcut crys
tal decanter by the prestigious
French firm of Daum, a hand
crafted, velvet-lined silver oak
presentation case, a signed,
numbered lithograph by French
artist Carzou and certificates of
Continued on page 2