Prehistoric adventure: Funday Sunday heads to Toledo Zoo

TOLEDO — The May Funday Sunday event is hitting the road. The University of Findlay's Mazza Museum will hold its next Funday Sunday session at the Toledo Zoo in the ProMedica Museum of Natural History from 1-3 p.m. May 15. The zoo is located at 2 Hippo Way, Toledo. Funday Sunday features themed, family-friendly learning extravaganzas designed to encourage artistic expression, enhance literacy knowledge and develop critical thinking skills. This is the first time since the event started in 2004 that it will be held off campus. "The theme is 'Prehistoric Adventure' because it really matches their theme," said Heather Sensel, education manager at the Mazza Museum. There will be 18 stations, she said, ranging from a fossil rub and dino dig to a shadow puppet theater and polar bear table. Students from Millstream Career Center will volunteer their time to help with the stations, she said. The Cottonwood Jam String Band will also perform. Other community partners that will be present include the Hancock Historical Museum, Marathon Center for the Performing Arts and Marathon Petroleum Corp. This program is sponsored by Farmers and Merchants State Bank and Taylor Automotive Group. Mazza Museum Director Ben Sapp said it has been about five years since the Toledo Zoo first approached the museum about establishing a gallery in the ProMedica Museum of Natural History. "It was being totally renovated and there was a space upstairs that the director had occupied. And they wanted to know if we would have interest in putting an exhibit up there," he recalled. Sapp is a member of the Toledo Area Cultural Leaders. The group's purpose is to combine resources, showcase their cultural offerings, and introduce audiences to organizations and opportunities with which they may be unfamiliar. "We're always trying to partner and do things together and to really showcase each other's unique and wonderful resources, so that's how that began," he explained. To further cement the connection, Mazza Museum curator Dan Chudzinski volunteered as a ZOOTeen when he was in high school. These teens assist on zoo grounds and also off grounds to help in the conservation efforts of area organizations. The first Mazza Museum exhibition at the zoo, "Lines and Tigers and Bears: An Illustrated Zoo," was installed in 2019 and included about 40 pieces of art, some of which were created by Lizzy Rockwell, author of the children's book, "Zoo Day." Rockwell gathered some of her reference images for the book from the Toledo Zoo. Over the years, members of the zoo's educational staff have also been part of Funday Sundays. "They used to be able to bring animals, and that's no longer an option," he said. "But they'll bring artifacts and things that are very informative to the parents and the children who are here." The staff had hoped to hold its first Funday Sunday event at the zoo in the spring of 2020. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the date was changed to this May. "Our gallery right now is still not open because of COVID," Sapp said. "They'll be opening it for this date and then opening it back up for good on Memorial Day weekend." This will give visitors a first peak at the new art since it has been changed in the gallery, according to Sensel, adding that there will be someone in the gallery reading stories for this event. "We're hopeful that this will be as beneficial for them as it will be, not only to the Mazza Museum and the University of Findlay, but also all the other entities that are taking part in this, that it may generate new interest in people coming down to Findlay for many of the programs of these other entities," Sapp said. Prior to Funday Sunday, the university will host a reception/lunch from noon to 1 p.m. at the zoo for alumni, family and friends who have registered. Admission to the zoo is up to participants. Wolf: 419-427-8419