Model Airplane Building at the York Historical Society.

This Saturday, January 21st at the Historical Society Museum (250 E Market St. York, PA) Join Chet Mohn, President of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of International Plastic Modelers Society, as he conducts a model building class.

The class is open to children ages 10-14 (for participants less than 12 years old, parents are asked to stay with their child.) Participants will construct a 1:72 scale model of the World War II era P51 Mustang fighter plane. During the session, the basic history of the plane will be discussed as well as the background of the modeling hobby.

There is no cost to attend the program but pre-registration is required as space is limited. The Model Build it Days class is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. To register or for more information please contact the education department at 717-848-1587 x301 or AIMREC@yorkheritage.org. In case of inclement weather, a snow date has been scheduled for the following January 28.

Birthday Parties!

At some point I did a post on the question, "Where can I have a birthday party for my child in York?". It's a common question, even among my fellow life long Yorkers, and we all seem to get stuck in the same old rut of bowling and skating, over and over, and seem to think there isn't anything else around. (Not that they aren't both great ideas, personally I'm a big fan of skating parties, but I think we all understand the need to lengthen the list.) Well I'm happy to report that I have found a lot of great places to have a birthday party, along with bowling and skating, and I'm sure you will find something on this list that you may not have considered before!

1. Bowling (of course)- There are a few bowling alley's in York, so pick the one closest to you and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Suburban Bowlerama, Colony Park Lanes North, Colony Park Lanes East, East Lincoln Lanes, Lincolnway Bowling, Lion Bowling Center (Red Lion), and Springfield Bowling Center in Seven Valleys are the ones that came to mind, I'm sure there are more!

2. Ice Skating- York City Ice Arena, a great birthday party idea for your little hockey player! http://www.yorkskate.com/

3. Roller Skating- We just returned from a Roll R Way party held during the Preschool Romp and Roll and it was a blast! http://www.rollrway.net/

4. Sundae Party- Sweet Willows Creamery, make your own sundae's, yum! http://www.sweetwillows.com/

5. Make Your Own Soap- Super cute idea, at Sunrise Soap Company, where the kids make their own soap from all-natural scents and ingredients. http://www.sunrisesoap.com/

6. Bounce Party- Our family favorite for the past two years, Atomic Bounce Rocks, in Red Lion. Let your kids bounce themselves silly! http://www.atomicbouncerocks.com/

7. Pottery Party- The Prancing Pig in Red Lion is a great place for your budding artist and his/her friends! http://prancingpigpottery.com/

8. Tumble at Your House- Consider calling the Tumble Bus if you would like to add a little fun to an at home birthday party! http://www.tumblewheelspa.com/birthdays/

9. Tumble/Gymnastics- For kids under the age of six, I would recommend Tiny Tumblers, my five year old LOVES their parties: http://www.tinytumblers.net/. Over the age of six, I would say try Gymnastics of York, http://gymnasticsofyork.com/.

10. Farm/Outside Parties- This year we have attended birthday parties at both Flinchbaugh's Orchard and Brown's Orchard and both were excellent! For spring, summer and fall birthday's you really can't beat spending the day outside enjoying the fresh air. Flinchbaugh's: http://www.flinchbaughsorchard.com/ and Brown's Orchard:http://www.brownsorchards.com/

11. Winter Outside Party- If you have a winter birthday, and kids over the age of six, I would highly recommend a snow tubing party at Avalanche Xpress at Heritage Hills. Fun, fun, fun! http://avalanchexpress.com

12. Fun and Games- If you have kids over the age of five, skip Chuck E Cheese and head to Bogey Macaws for the indoor arcade games and Ballocity, a two story ball shooting experience! http://bogeymacaws.com/

13. Crafty- Both Michael's and AC Moore offer a craft themed birthday party where your little ones can make or build something. A GREAT idea!

14. Baseball- How lucky are we to have a fantastic, and winning, local baseball team with excellent facilities. If you have a baseball fan, young or old, consider a party at the York Revolution Baseball Stadium. http://yorkrevolution.com/

15. Movies- Both York movie theaters have party rooms, so the kids can catch a new release and then have some cake! Frank Theater: http://www.franktheatres.com/ and West Manchester Regal Theater: http://www.regmovies.com/

This is my unofficial list, please feel free to add more as I have surely left a few off of the list! Enjoy!

York County Astronomical Society

How many of us knew that there was an active astronomical society here in York?

Well, thankfully, there is and they are gearing up for an exciting few months with clinics, public observations and a kids program at the planetarium. Tomorrow night the Learning Center Planetarium, located at 300 East 6th Avenue in York, will be showing "Two Small Pieces of Glass" a story of how telescopes were invented and how they continue to teach us about our universe. The program begins at 7pm followed by a Star Watch at 7:40pm where the kids will learn about constellations and get a tour of the solar system.

The program is geared toward families, but they ask that children that cannot sit through a 35 minute presentation not attend. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children, additional shows that night are only $1. (There is also an 8:20pm show called "New Horizon's" all about Pluto!)

As a former "Young Astronaut", anyone else remember being part of that group in school, I was very excited to read about the York County Astronomical Society and all that they offer here in York. I'm hoping to attend tomorrow night, maybe I will see you there!

For more information visit their website at: http://www.ycas.org/

Hole In The Wall Puppet Theater

I have a 5 year-old daughter who is completely sucked in by puppets and magic right now, I'm not sure when it happened, but now they are at the top of her "what I want to be when I grow up" lists. These career crushes are always followed by me trying to check out local opportunities to see or do something that might encourage a better understanding of how big people use their talents to make a living doing these things.

Magicians we can actually find here and there, but puppeteers are a dime a dozen, you have to search pretty hard to find one these days. That's why I was shocked and thrilled to learn there is an actual puppet house right across the river in Lancaster.

The Hole In The Wall theater is an old fashioned marionette theater that has been in operation for 21 years. They are a small company, but manage to put on five or six shows per year. They are currently setting up for their run of Rumplestiltskin, which begins January 7th and runs through February 18th. The shows are every Saturday morning at 10am. There is also a small puppet museum open prior to the show that includes hand puppets, marionettes, and shadow and rod puppets. (Bet you didn't know there were that many kinds of puppets!)

We will be checking out the new show as soon ASAP and I know some other little ones that might enjoy an old fashioned puppet show as well, so join us!

For more information about Hole In The Wall Puppets visit their website at :

http://www.holeinthewallpuppets.com/Hole_in_the_Wall_Puppet_Theatre/Home.html