All June activities have been canceled or postponed at Hinckley’s L.C. Bates Museum. Staff and volunteers are working to use the museums present programs and new ideas to make short educational video clips called “Nature Nuggets” and “Exploring History.” These will soon be posted on social media, according to a news release from the museum.

The clips will be focused on elementary-age children. They will cover subjects such as bird skulls, feathers and interesting old tools. Staff and volunteers hope the clips will support fun at-home learning and become a long-term museum activity.

Keeping health needs in focus, at this time the museum will not offer summer camps. The museum hopes to hold some outdoor summer activities.

In the meantime, visit the Good Will-Hinckley Trails to see many Maine trees, flowers and insects. Volunteers, among others, have been working to improve the Dartmouth trail and its trail-side habitat, as well as working on staining and repairing the picnic tables available for visitors. When walking the trails look for and don’t miss finding the homes of insects and small animals. Wild turkeys are commonly seen by visitors walking the campus trails and they might come a bit close before they fly away.

According to the release, turkeys are a large bird in the genus Meleagris, which is native to the Americas. Male turkeys have a distinctive fleshy wattle or protuberance that hangs from the top of the beak (called a snood). Those who don’t see one on the trail, when the museum reopens, come see one in the Audubon bird gallery.

As a result of a kind donor, soon the museum will have natural science “Kid’s Kits” and activities to share with the community. These free kits will include booklets, supplies and activity guides that will encourage learning at home this summer. Contact the museum for more information about receiving a kit. Some kits will be distributed through community programs.

While the museum is closed, many historic and scientific collections in the museum are being properly stored and catalogued. These include unique historic woodworking tools used at Good Will or collected by G. W. Hinckley for the museum. The two early Wooden Plans that are in the collection are being cataloged and stored as part of a large collection of well-preserved historic woodworking tools.

Check out daily postings on Facebook for photographs and information about specimens and collections in the museum.

For more information, email lcbates@gwh.org, call 207-238-4250 or visit gwh.org/lcbates. 

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