Purdue News

Moms' Weekend at Purdue focuses on family fun

In addition to the notorious Bug Bowl, the 84th annual Horticulture Show and the 67th University Sing choral competition, there will be open houses in the Schools of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, two free concerts, a free dance performance, a Shakespearean play, a display of undergraduate science research, and home matches for the men's and women's tennis teams.

Mother's Weekend originated in 1972. That's when University Sing, which previously had been held on Mother's Day, was switched to April because of a change in the academic calendar.

The 1997 University Sing competition, sponsored by the Purdue Student Union Board, will start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in the ballrooms of Purdue Memorial Union. About 20 student organizations will compete. Rule changes this year allow costumes and choreography for singing groups and presentation of a spirit award based on visual impact, costuming and crowd reaction. The event is free and open to the public.

CONTACT: J.J. Foster, University Sing director, Purdue Student Union Board, (765) 494-8976.

Bug Bowl

Bug Bowl, another Mother's Weekend tradition, attracted about 10,000 people last year.

A three-day celebration of insects, Bug Bowl includes everything from a cricket spitting contest to an insect petting zoo. Vendors rattle off a menu that includes chocolate chirpy chip cookies, mealworm chow mein and a "caterpillar crunch" trail mix. Other events include a Big Bug Bakeoff, a human caterpillar race, insect crafts, a butterfly exhibit and, the crowd favorite, cockroach racing at "Roach Hill Downs." New this year will be a parade of Volkswagen Beetles decorated as bugs.

All the events take place in and around Entomology Hall.

Kathy Heinsohn, a graduate student in Purdue's Department of Entomology, has been involved in organizing the Bug Bowl since 1992. Each year she demonstrates ways to cook favorite foods with insects, teaching people about insects and nutrition. She also asks audience members to step up and participate in a blind taste test of spice cakes, one with meal worms and one without.

Tom Turpin, professor of entomology and Bug Bowl founder, says he started the event as a cockroach race in 1990 to stir up campus interest in entomology. Response was so great that the next year the organizers made Bug Bowl a formal event with more activities, expanding it to three days.

Bug Bowl is free and open to the public. This year it begins at 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 18, with the Big Bug Bake-Off. The full slate of activities then takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 19, and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 20.

CONTACTS: Turpin; (765) 494-4568; e-mail, tom_turpin@entm.purdue.edu
Heinsohn, (765) 494-8646; e-mail, cathy_heinsohn@entm.purdue.edu

84th Annual Horticulture Show

The show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (4/19-20), even though the Horticulture Greenhouses have been torn down.

Kathy Jerger, president of the Purdue Horticulture Society, sponsor of the event, said a temporary plastic greenhouse will be erected behind the Horticulture Building. It will contain display gardens, landscaping ideas, a question-and-answer booth, and plants for sale. Another familiar highlight will be the informational seminars.

In addition, there will be a number of activities to keep kids busy while Mom and Dad are gathering lawn and garden ideas.

"We're building on the 'Hands On Horticulture' theme started last year," Jerger said. "We'll be doing face painting, planting flowers and vegetables, and making bird feeders with the kids. Plus, there will be new kids' activities."

For example, this year, children in kindergarten through third grades can enter a horticulture art contest and see their artwork on display during the show. Colleen Schuetz, chairwoman for the contest, said youths wishing to participate should draw or paint their favorite flower, tree or other horticultural subject; label it with their name, age and school; and send it by April 7 to Hort Show, 1165 Horticulture Building, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165. Top winners in each age category will win a prize.

A new area at the 1997 Hort Show will be devoted to horticulture therapy.

"This area shows a garden that is especially useful for the handicapped," Jerger said. "It has raised workstations and flower beds for those in wheelchairs, and plants that are excellent to smell and touch for the blind. There also will be a presentation about horticulture therapy."

Jerger suggests that visitors to this year's Hort Show park in the Marsteller Parking Garage and enter through the Horticulture Gardens off Marsteller Street, because parking on the west side of the Horticulture Building has been eliminated by building construction.

CONTACT: Kathy Jerger, (765) 743-4420

Boiler Barnyard

This is a new feature to the School of Agriculture Open House. It will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (4/19-20) in front of Smith Hall, at the corner of State and South University streets.

Organized by the Animal Science Ambassadors, this event also will include live farm animals, sheep-shearing demonstrations, milking demonstrations, drawings and interactive displays. Children can play games for prizes such as stickers, erasers and pencils. In addition, there will be a food booth serving hamburgers, ice cream and soft drinks.

CONTACT: Amy Heady, (765) 743-9416

Department of Agronomy Open House

This also is new event this year. Activities and exhibits will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday only (4/19) in front of Lily Hall of Life Sciences, at the corner of State and Russell streets. Visitors can learn about soils, weather, erosion and how food manufacturers use Indiana crops. Activities include painting with soil-based paints, a hands-on soil-texture guessing game, and a rainfall simulator that demonstrates the different effects of rainfall on bare soil vs. planted soil. In case of real rainfall, activities will be moved into the building's lobby.

CONTACT: Darrell Schulze, (765) 494-8062

Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Open House

People of all ages can find something to do and learn about from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (4/19) at this open house. In around the Forestry and Forest Products buildings, there will be activities and displays about Indiana's natural resources and timber industry.

"We'll have things in the buildings, in a tent, and up in the trees," said Bill Hoover, Extension specialist in Forestry and Natural Resources. "We'll have stuff everywhere."

Lafayette's Columbian Park Zoo will have animals there from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in a tent on the lawn. Also in the tent, homeowners can learn how to attract backyard wildlife such as birds and squirrels.

"Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers will be there to teach hunter safety for young people," Hoover added.

In addition, guests can watch a portable sawmill in action and enter a contest to win the lumber that's cut. Kids can climb a tree, and families can browse the Internet. And they may even run into special guest Smokey Bear.

CONTACT: Bill Hoover, (765) 494-3580

Veterinary Medicine Open House

Horse shoes, drug-sniffing dogs and animal psychiatrists all will be on hand Saturday (4/19) for the School of Veterinary Medicine's 34th annual open house.

The open house will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lynn Hall. Third-year veterinary students organize the event to teach the public about veterinary medicine and to showcase Purdue's accomplishments and contributions.

This year's event features exotic animal exhibits, the S.M.A.R.T. canine search and rescue team, the Greyhound Adoption League, a cow-milking contest, and spay and neuter demonstration surgeries.

CONTACT: Beth Morrison, (765) 447-0593; or the School of Veterinary Medicine, (765) 494-7893

Other Mothers' Weekend events:

• Saturday, April 19. Science Undergraduate Research Day. Students display posters to showcase undergraduate research projects in science. Sponsored by the School of Science. 1-3:30 p.m., Room 218, Stewart Center. Free.

• Friday-Sunday, April 18-20. "Taming of the Shrew," a Shakespearean comedy sponsored by Purdue Theatre. 8 p.m. April 18; 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. April 19; 6 p.m. April 20. Experimental Theatre, Stewart Center. Tickets available at Loeb Box Office, (765) 494-3933, for $10.50 for public and $6.50 for Purdue students and senior citizens.
  
• Friday, April 18. American Music Review and Variety Band Concert. 8 p.m. Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center. Free.
  
• Saturday, April 19. International Food Bazaar. 10:30 a.m. University Church. Sponsored by the International Center.
  
• Sunday, April 20. Symphonic Band Concert. 2:30 p.m. Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center. Free.
  
• Sunday, April 20. Performance by Jaharai Dance Troupe. 3 p.m. Fowler Hall. Reception follows in Room 102, Stewart Center. Free.

• Saturday, April 19. Women's tennis vs. Indiana. 11 a.m. Varsity Courts (behind Recreational Center). Free.
  
• Saturday, April 19. Men's tennis vs. Minnesota. 1 p.m. Varsity Courts. Free.
  
• Sunday, April 20. Women's tennis vs. Ohio State. 11 a.m. Varsity Courts. Free.
  
• Sunday, April 20. Men's tennis vs. Iowa. 1 p.m. Varsity Courts. Free.

Writers: Frank Koontz, (765) 494-2080; e-mail, frank_koontz@purdue.edu
Andrea McCann, (765) 494-8406; e-mail, mccann@aes.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu

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