Upcoming Events at Landmark Park

THE PLAYGROUND IS OPEN WITH BRAND NEW EQUIPMENT!

FEBRUARY 15 • INTRO TO CERAMICS On February 15 at 10 a.m. in the Interpretive Center Auditorium, families are invited to create and paint a ceramic heart-shaped project. No experience is necessary and all ages are welcome. Our teacher will guide you through the entire process, ending with a craft you can take home. The fee is regular gate admission ($4 for adults, $3 for kids, free for park members) plus a $5 materials fee. Registration and prepayment of $5 material fee is required to ensure adequate supples. Space is limited. Visit www.landmarkparkdothan.com to register.

FEBRUARY 21 • ASTRONOMY NIGHT Join Landmark Park for an evening of stargazing on February 21 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Astronomy Night is an exciting and informative program that gives visitors a view of several stars and planets through telescopes and binoculars on the gazebo lawn. Staff members will help point out winter constellations and visitors will get the chance to experience a starry hayride and campfire. Nightwalks will take place on the boardwalk. Warm up in the Interpretive Center after stargazing and enjoy snacks, a movie about Planets, and a program in the planetarium. Planetarium programs are not recommended for children under 5. Scouts are welcome, and Astronomy Night meets several requirements for the Astronomy Badge. Admission is $5 members, $6 for scouts and their leaders in uniform and $8 for nonmembers and free for children 5 and under. Reservations and prepayment are required for this Astronomy Night. Space is limited. Visit www.landmarkparkdothan.com to register and pay.

FEBRUARY 29 • YOUTH WILDLIFE DAY Join us for a day of outdoor family fun! Learn about conservation, wildlife and win prizes. Enjoy a live animal meet and greet, youth BB gun shooting range, fish casting practice, youth archery range, “Skins and Skulls” demo, reptile presentation and inflatable jump house. This event will be held at the Stokes Activity Barn on February 29 from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Admission is free for park members and ages 15 and under and $4 for adults. This event is sponsored by National Wild Turkey Federation, Michelin and Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

MARCH 21 • SPRING FARM DAY 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Turn back the clock over 100 years and experience living history demonstrations of blacksmithing, plowing with mules, quilting and other traditional springtime farm activities. Entertainment will include traditional music, arts and crafts, a Kids Zone petting zoo, Drum Circle City performance, expanded Stroll Through History trail, chuckwagon and Dutch oven cooking demos and more. ($8 for adults, $6 for seniors and military, $4 for kids, free for park members and children 2 and under). New this year! The Alabama Agricultural Museum will reopen with a new exhibit. Sponsored by WOOF Radio, Durden Outdoor, WDHN, Houston County Farmers Federation, Dothan Eagle, Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, Wiregrass RC&D, Extendicare, ServisFirst Bank, Dothan Animal Hospital. 

MARCH 23-27 • SPRING BREAK ACTIVITIES Family fun at 10 a.m. each day (See schedule below, register at www.landmarkparkdothan.com), plus horse drawn wagon rides from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and free play with games and puzzles in the Auditorium. Free with paid gate admission $4 for adults, $3 for kids, free for park members and children 2 and under. 

March 23: Guided Nature Hike

March 24: Soda Shop Memories in the Martin Drugstore 

March 25: Hand Sewing 101

March 26: Irish Dance Class 

March 27: Fun on the Farm

Planetarium Special! Live show at 1 p.m. and Full Dome Movie (see schedule below) at 1:30 p.m. each day. $3 per show or do both for $5. As always, members receive free admission to the Planetarium. 

March 23: Dynamic Earth

March 24: Earth Moon and Sun

March 25: To Space and Back

March 26: Secret of the Cardboard Rocket

March 27: The Little Star that Could

MARCH 28 • POTTERY CLASS 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Join Lyn Koning and make three projects with clay: a “Toad Home”and a bowl to take home, and an “Empty Bowl” for donation to the Wiregrass United Way Area Food Bank’s annual Empty Bowls fundraiser. Space is limited and registration is required. Visit www.landmarkparkdothan.com to register and prepay materials fee ($20). Admission that day is $4 for adults, $3 for kids and free for park members. Make sure to wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty!

APRIL 11 • TREE ID WORKSHOP 10 a.m. Join veteran forester and park volunteer Ed Lewis on Saturday, April 11 for an informative program and tour of the park to learn the fascinating history and uses of common trees. This program will meet several requirements for scout badges. Registration is required. Free with paid gate admission ($4 for adults, $3 for kids, free for park members). You will learn why the USS Constitution was nicknamed “Old Ironsides”, why certain caterpillars love black cherry leaves, which two species of trees helped make a Tennessee distiller famous, and lots more! Ed is well known throughout the state for his interesting programs and enthusiasm when sharing his love of trees with others. This program lasts about one hour and will include a walk around the boardwalk and other parts of the park. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and clothes.

APRIL 12 • SUNRISE SERVICE Dothan Ministerial Union will host the 33rd annual Easter Sunrise Service at 6 a.m. at the gazebo. This is an interdenominational service and is open to everyone. Benches are available but please bring lawn chairs to ensure adequate seating. In the event of rain the service will be held in the Headland Presbyterian Church located adjacent to the gazebo. Admission is free. The park will close immediately after the service and re-open at noon for our regular Sunday hours.

APRIL 18 • SACRED HARP SING The powerful sounds of Sacred Harp music will fill the air when the park will host a Sacred Harp sing in the church. At 9:30a.m. there will be an abbreviated singing school for visitors unfamiliar with the Shape Note  (or Fasola) singing tradition. The sing will get underway at 10:00 a.m. The singers will gather under the spreading branches of a nearby live oak tree and enjoy a traditional dinner on the grounds from 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to bring a traditional covered dish and join in the fellowship.

APRIL 25 • NATIVE BEE WORKSHOP 10 a.m. Alabama Cooperative Extension Agent Philip Carter will present this workshop in the Interpretive Center Auditorium. Registration is required. Free with paid gate admission ($4 for adults, $3 for kids, free for members). While most people think of honeybees as pollinators, native bees are actually responsible for even more pollination than the European honeybee. Leafcutters are solitary, rather than existing in a hive like a honeybee. While their homes may often be near others, they do not interact with each other. All females are queens and will only sting if threatened. The queen collects pollen and nectar, lays and protects eggs. She seals each egg chamber with cut leaf bits and other leaf cutter bees honor her space. She will only lay eggs in her own home. Males fertilize the females and then die within two weeks.

REGULAR EVENTS:

FIRST SATURDAYS  • WIREGRASS WOODTURNER MEETING AND DEMO 9:30 a.m. Open to the public, free with paid gate admission and free for Wiregrass Woodturner members. Woodturning demonstrations will take place. Interpretive Center Classroom.

SECOND SATURDAYS • PICKIN IN THE PARK New event! 10 a.m. Headland Presbyterian Church. Musicians are invited to a bluegrass, country and gospel jam session. Visitors are welcome to listen. Show your instrument at the gate and receive free admission. Regular admission is $4 for adults, $3 for kids and free for park members and children 2 and under. All ages and skill levels welcome. 

FIELD TRIP OPPORTUNITIES:

MARCH-MAY • WONDERFUL WETLANDS Designed specifically for middle school students, this program offers a unique learning experience per fect for older more adventurous groups willing to roll up their sleeves and get a little wet and muddy. Students will conduct activities to understand how streams and ponds form, how freshwater organisms adapt, and how factors such as pH affect these environments. Students will have an opportunity to explore an actual nearby freshwater ecosystem. Due to the special nature of this lab, space is limited to one class (20-24 students) per session. Students should come prepared to get wet and muddy in this class. Rain boots can be provided. Cost: $10. Recommended age: 3rd-8th Grade. Program Length: 3 hours (9 a.m.-noon). PREREGISTERED GROUPS ONLY! Visit www.landmarkparkdothan.com for more details and to register.

Landmark Park is a 135-acre natural science and history museum located on the outskirts of Dothan. Regular park hours are Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for kids and free for park members and children 2 and under. Admission is higher for some special events. Become a member and receive free admission for a full year. Features of the park include nature trails, a planetarium, playground, picnic areas, an elevated boardwalk, a turn-of-the-century farmstead with chickens, cows and other farm animals and crops typical of an 1890s farm. In addition, the park includes the Martin Drugstore and Soda Fountain one-room school, and historic church, all preserved from the surrounding area. Several areas of the park are available for rent for your special occasion. The park is located on U.S. Hwy 431 North, three miles north of Dothan’s Ross Clark Circle.  For more info and to become a member, call 334-794-3452 or visit  www.landmarkparkdothan.com. 

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Offsite Opportunities

2020 SPRING SPEAKERS SERIES

The Troy University Dothan Campus College of Arts and Sciences invites you! All events will take place in Sony Hall in the Everett Building on the Troy University Dothan Campus and will begin at 6:30 p.m. All are free and open to the public, no reservation required. CEU / Professional hours available. Sponsored by Troy University and a generous grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation

February 18, Dr. Aisha Johnson-Jones of Atlanta will present our Black History Month lecture “The African American Struggle for Library Equality: The Untold Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program.” She unveils an almost-forgotten philanthropic effort of Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears and Roebuck and a friend of Booker T. Washington. Many of us know that his Rosenwald Fund helped build 5300 rural schools, 1917-1938, but few remember that it also built over 10,000 libraries in African American communities throughout the South and promoted African American librarianship.

March 2, Local historian and author Dale Cox will give our Women’s History Month lecture, “Milly Francis: The Creek Pocahontas” and debut his new documentary video about her. During the First Seminole War of 1817-18, Wiregrass-born chieftain’s daughter Milly Frances saved the life of one of Andrew Jackson’s soldiers though he was her enemy. Her reward was to march on the Trail of Tears until her story sparked a national outcry that led to her being awarded a medal. Frances was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019.

April 23, Mobilian Emily Blejwas will deliver the annual Woodham Memorial Lecture on “The History of Alabama in its Foods” Blejwas will talk about the characters and stories she uncovered in researching her 2019 book, The History of Alabama in Fourteen Foods. Whether its corn, lake fish, barbecue, wild turkey, Lane Cake, or any of the other foods she examines, Blejwas makes the point that there is little more fundamental to a community’s identity than its iconic foods.