Organizers of the Cullman Summer Series are abuzz.
The series, presented by the Cullman Childhood Development Center of Sidney, kicks off Sunday, June 22 with the return of “The Buzz About Honeybees,” a free event educating children and families on the importance of honeybees.
This is the series’ sixth presentation of Honeybee Day, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sidney American Legion, 22 Union St.
Christine Roche, committee chair, said planning begins in January.
“There’s a committee of about nine people, and we put it together, but we rely on dozens and dozens of volunteers to actually take part in the day,” she said. “This is the first of three events in the Cullman Summer Series and it’s a family-friendly, interactive event, oriented toward children, but we do have adults who come without children who find it just as interesting.
“The wonderful thing about this event is that station leaders can gear discussion to the appropriate age level,” Roche continued. “So, because of that, it’s conducive for families to return year after year, as children get older and their comprehension advances and their questions and conversations get more evolved.”
Roche said visitors can expect a variety of activities.
“We have 30 curiosity stations, and each one is interactive and has an educational component, and many are staffed by experienced beekeepers,” she said. “So, participants can interact, ask questions and learn from knowledgeable beekeepers.
“We teach about the life cycle of the honey bee – what jobs they do within the hives, how those jobs change as the bee gets older – we teach about pollination of flowers, fruits and vegetables and we have a live hive there behind glass, so participants can see them at work and talk about honey and how it’s made and what humans use it for,” Roche continued. “We have empty hives that kids can take apart and put back together; we include how a honeybee sees, where participants can get a free eye screening; and we combine honey tasting with voting, to enforce the importance of a citizen’s right to vote. We try to make everything educational.”
Roche said the series’ ultimate aim is continuing engagement.
“Our hope is, at the least, we impart knowledge about the important role bees play in our ecosystem and lives; participants have a nice, educational family day out; and, ideally, our hope is to have piqued interested in people enough so that, in the future, they take up beekeeping,” she said.
Roche said that “people come from all the surrounding towns” for Honeybee Day and other events in the series.
“For Ag Day, we had over 500 people,” she said. “This one is a little less, but we’re trying to change that. Honeybees are really fascinating insects; they literally feed the world and they’re so vital to our environment and the food we eat, so we hope to get that message out there. And we do have many people that return year after year.”
The series is funded, Roche said, through donations from area businesses and organizations.
“We do not ask for donations from attendees,” she said. “It’s important to the committee that all three events be 100% free to attendees, so that all who want to may attend.”
The next event in the series is the newest. The inaugural Derby Day, beginning at noon, Sunday, July 13 in Unadilla, will be, according to a media release, “a family-friendly event (that) invites participants to design, build and race their unique, gravity-powered cars down our thrilling track.” The track, designed and manufactured by longtime Unadilla business, Unalam, in cooperation with Unadilla Mayor Jake Cotten, will be erected on Clifton Street, with a vendor fair and activities held on the nearby Denton Reed Recreational Field.
For signup information and derby car specifications, visit ccdcderby.com. Entries, Cotten said, will be capped at 40.
Agriculture Day, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, July 27 at Keith Clark Park in Sidney, will conclude this year’s series. Ag Day features heavy equipment, livestock, agriculture product samples and more.
For more information on all three events, find “Cullman Summer Series” on Facebook.