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Peccary Society to Celebrate
100th Anniversary of Alf’s Birth
On December 10th 1905, in
Canton, China, Raymond Manfred Alf
was born. On October 28, 2005, the
Peccary Society will gather at the 13th
Annual Peccary Dinner to honor and
remember Ray in a celebration 100
years after his birth (44 days short of
exactly 100 years). The dinner program
will include an overview of his life and
accomplishments, including some rare
video. Also, a few peccary alumni will
deliver short testimonials about Ray and
his influence.
The October Peccary Dinner will
also mark the official announcement by
the Board of Trustees of the Raymond
Alf Museum of Paleontology of plans to
renovate the Hall of Life by 2009. The
first step in this process is to complete an
Exhibits Concept Plan for the hall. The
museum will contract Think Jacobson
& Roth to do the plan, the same firm
who designed and implemented the
renovation of the Hall of Footprints
in 2002. The results of the Hall of
Footprints project were stunning and
everyone is excited about seeing the
same type of transformation for
the Hall of Life. Ray Alf’s famous
personal tour of the Hall of Life
was titled “From Stars to Early
Civilization,” where he told the
story of the history of life in his
own personal style. Few who took
Ray’s tour were not enthralled by
the experience. Similarly, the new
Exhibits Concept Plan will merge
Alf’s vision of telling a story with
modern exhibit techniques and the
most recent scientific information
(plate tectonics, radiometric dating,
geology of Mars, cladistics, etc.).
The new tour design will be named
“From Stars to Early Civilization,”
in honor of Ray and his legacy.
When the renovation of the Hall
of Life is completed, both museum
display areas will be state-of-the-art
exhibition halls. Laudate Deum!
Dr. Raymond Alf holding a “document of life,” a rhino skull
from the White River Badlands of Nebraska
Museum News
MUSEUM AWARDED FEDERAL GRANT
Securing federal grants is very difficult as funds are tight
and competition is fierce. But through the outstanding efforts
of development staff of The Webb Schools, the museum
received its second federal grant since 2001. The new one is a
three-year $74,655 Museums for America matching grant from
the Institute of Museum and Library Services. (Museum will
need to raise $75,000 to match the award.) The grant is for
improving and expanding public programming and includes
six parts: 1) Paleo Explorer self tour guides for visitors;
2) New curriculum packets for school tour groups; 3) Teacher
education workshops; 4) Classroom Connection presentations
at local schools; 5) Web site renovation and expansion with
multiple pathways for visitors, students and educators; and
6) Summer science program (week-long) for 5th and 6th grade
girls. Objectives outlined in the grant will take three years to
be fully implemented. When completed, the Alf Museum will
be an industry leader in public science education. Director of
Education Heather Moffat will oversee the implementation of
all aspects of the grant, assisted by Museum Educator/Scientific
Illustrator Kathy Sanders and Public Outreach Coordinator
Linda Petrone.
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