What Lies Beneath

Its about this time of year that most Michiganders are cracking open protective slips full of winter attire to prepare for the unrelenting cold. So as you’re zipping up your umpteenth layer, try and comprehend this: There was a time when Michigan was always warm. In fact, it was covered by a shallow tropical sea. For those who have lived in Michigan all their lives, this may seem like an impossibility. Enter National Fossil Day: A day started by the National Park Service to recognize and appreciate a science that will tell you that for proof of a tropical Michigan we need look no further than our state stone.

“Petoskey stones are actually fossilized coral,” said Danita Brandt, professor of paleontology and adjunct curator of the Michigan State University Museum. “Fossils are powerful tools for interpreting Earth’s history, like providing evidence for what ancient environments were like.”

For the second year now, the MSU Museum (pictured top) is celebrating National Fossil day with a host of activities. There will be scavenger hunts, guided tours of the museum’s evolution hall, and crafts. Guests can also partake in a simulation of actual paleontology where you can sift through sediment hunt for fossils yourself. Though the day is geared for families, don’t just assume you’ll be digging for plastic dinosaurs.

“There will be real sediment and real fossils,” Brandt said. “We like to give our visitors as real of an experience as possible.”

Now, it might be a fact on par with finding out that Santa Claus isn’t real that Michigan was never home to any dinosaurs, but that doesn’t mean that it´s not rich with interesting fossils. Everything that lived is a potential fossil. Even a peculiar rock you may happen upon could be a valuable link to the past. Ralph Taggart and two other paleontologists will be on hand at the event to examine such articles. There’s hardly an excuse to come empty handed either as the nearest site to excavate is closer to home than you think.

“Glaciers scraped up all sorts of rocks and dumped them right in our backyards” Brandt said. “At another of the museum’s events, Darwin Days, someone brought in a Mastodon molar.”

If your interest in the history of the planet doesn’t reach back several millions and years and has more of a lean toward humans than Haikouichthys, then you’re in luck. The Michigan Historical Museum hosts the 2014 Michigan Archeology Day (pictured bottom). The event boasts several activities and demonstrations, including a presentation on stone tool making and an opportunity to test you skill at shooting targets with darts and atlatl (spear-thrower) used in Michigan forests thousands of years ago.

Several archeologists from Michigan and beyond will be there to present their one-day exhibition of recent excavations and underwater explorations. The archeologists will also be giving presentations throughout the day on various research projects in the museum’s Forum Auditorium.

So while it all may seem like a couple of events where you dig in the dirt for “old stuff” to the laymen, the sciences of archeology and paleontology are vastly different and are concerned with things separated by millions of years. Paleontology studies fossils of once living organisms and archeology studies human artifacts. Brandt is familiar with the mixup but knows of one age group who finds it relatively easy to remember the difference.

“So many people confuse the two but most 8-year-olds know the difference,” Brandt said. “Thats cause paleontologists study dinosaurs.”

—Jonathan Griffith

National Fossil Day

12:30-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct.18 MSU Museum, 409 W. Circle Drive, MSU Campus, East Lansing FREE (517) 432-1472 museum.msu.edu

2014 Michigan Archeology Day

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct.18 Michigan Historical Museum, 702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing FREE michigan.gov/mshda

FRIDAY, OCT. 17-18 & FRIDAY, OCT, 24-26 >> ‘WHAT IS SUSAN’S SECRET?’ AT STARLIGHT DINNER THEATRE

Two elderly inn owners prove they’re not as helpless as young couple perceive them to be in Starlight Dinner Theatre’s 2014-‘15 season opener, “What is Susan’s Secret?” Michael and Susan Edwards, the elderly couple, con guests into performing maintenance on the grounds with an elaborate check-in form and a false front of senility. The work ranges anywhere from plumbing to carpentry. The whole ordeal comes to a boil, resulting in the electrifying final moments. The play has 12 characters that are played by a multifaceted cast of only four actors. And there is a full meal available for those not wanting to be entertained on an empty stomach. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 & Saturday, Oct. 18 (6:30 p.m. dinner.) Waverly East Cafetorium, 3131 W. Michigan Ave., Lansing. Show and dinner: $36/$33 seniors and students/$20 for 12 and under. Show only: $18/$17 seniors and students/$10 for 12 and under. (Dinner reservations required 48 hours in advance.) (517) 243-6040, starlightdinnertheatre.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 18 >> BOOK TALK AND SIGNING WITH AUTHOR ARNIE BERNSTEIN

In 1939, German-American naturalized citizen Fritz Kuhn and his pro-Nazi group, the German American Bund, packed 20,000 people into Madison Square Garden for a massive rally. Author Arnie Bernstein chronicles the rise and fall of Kuhn in his new book “Swastika Nation.” Bernstein will visit East Town’s Everybody Reads for an author talk and to sign copies of his book. Bernstein also wrote “Bath Massacre,” which told the true story of a Bath Township man who bombed an elementary school in 1927. 3-5 p.m. FREE. Everybody Reads: Books and Stuff, 2019 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. (517) 346-9900.

SUNDAY, OCT. 19 >> LANSING POETRY CLUB MEETING AT MICA

If you’ve been sitting on an 11-stanza contemplation on refrigerator magnets that you’re dying to share or you just have a penchant for reciting Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” the Lansing Poetry Club meeting on Sunday provides the ideal forum. New poets are highly encouraged to join fellow local writers to explore the artistry and beauty of the spoken word. 2-5 p.m. MICA Gallery, 1210 Turner St., Lansing. FREE. (517) 371-4600, micagallery.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 18-19 >> ARTS & EATS TOUR

The artistry of nature is on full display this time of year amid the changing leaves of Michigan’s trees. The fourth annual Arts and Eats tour directs “leafers” and admirers of manmade arts on a self-guided tour through the pastoral delights of Southwest Michigan. Among the tour stops are several farms, farm-to-table restaurants and art galleries galore. In addition to the tour stops, there are three central venues, including the Kellogg Manor House in Hickory Corner and the entirety of downtown Hastings, that will house more artists and serve as info stations for the tour. Also available is “A Taste of Arts and Eats Wine & Cheese Bus Tour” where guests can drop $25 to be whisked away to select highlights of the tour and enjoy wine from Glass Creek Winery and cheese from local producers. 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. FREE. Various locations throughout Southwest Michigan. artsandeats.org.