Sunday June 6- Night of the Bat

This event has passed.

Attendance:

Amri
Atalli
Ariana
Emonee
Brigid
+parents and siblings

Badge Activities Completed:

Bats #1 ( We did not get to see the bats fly. Watch the skies in the evenings to see if you can spot any. Take notes for the Earth and Sky Try It.)

Bats #5

Bats #12

Notes:
Girls handed out fliers to event attendees. We watched a live bat presentation and had the opportunity to ask our patch questions to the new director of Bat Conservation International. We visited the various areas of the festival and ate dinner together at Friday's. We found a humongous stick-bug, and we watched Blue Lapis perform aerial magic on the side of the Hyatt Hotel. We all received Batcon t-shirts.
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Original Post:

New info added to bottom of post Sat 6/5.

Tonight we will meet on the Congress Street Bridge for Night of the Bat.
Bat Conservation International will be providing us with tee-shirts and fliers to hand out as a Community Service Event. It will probably run as follows, but girls should be prepared to be flexible:

Troop meets with Batcon representative to learn our role for the evening. They will provide us with tee-shirts. Girls will also wear their vests. We will receive fliers to hand out to the general public as they attend the event.
Depending on how many girls we have, we will split into teams. There will be at least 2 girls and 1 adult per team. Teams will wander the festival, distributing materials. Teams are also allowed to enjoy the festival (live music, kids events, booths, food, etc.) but it is important to remember why we are the festival in the first place.Teams will meet up periodically to swap members. Girls will need to keep a positive attitude and be friendly, regardless of who is on their team.The festival runs from 4-8, when the bats are expected to fly. We might meet a little before 4. Please let me know what time you think your daughter will be available, if not the full 4 four hours. Before we leave the festival, the girls should be able to answer the following questions:

What bats live in our area?
What are other kinds of bats that do not live in our area?
Are bats in the bird family?
How do bats navigate?
What do bats eat- specifically the bats that live in our area?
How do they care for their young?
How are bats helpful?
Can bats be pests?
Describe bat anatomy.
What diseases can bats carry?
How can we stay safe?
Learn about vampire bats.
Should we be afraid of bats?
What are some dangers to bats?
What do we do if we come across a lost or injured bat?

We are working on our Bats patch. The girls voted to do activities #1, #5, #6, and #12. Most of these will be completed at the event. Activity #6 is writing and performing a bat play. The girls will probably go all out for this. We'll be working on it for the next few weeks and performing it later in the summer.

Meeting options:

Change of plans- my car will be full. We will all meet inside the Hyatt just before 4 OR if you will be joining us later, call me and I'll tell you where we are.

I asked for a few of each size shirt, but I'm sure there will just be a giant box of them and we can ask when we get there. Wear your vests!

RSVP list:

Amri and Mandy

Atalli and Adriana

Brigid and one parent (arriving late)

Emonee and Casey

Ariana and Gloriana

Mikayla and Cari (possibly arriving late)

Link to Hyatt's activity list.The kids will enjoy face painting and the bounce house. There will also be a circus marching band and a bicycle zoo. We won't want to miss seeing Batman and the Batmobile- and reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally want to see the aerial performance by the group Blue Lapis performed on the side of the hotel (literally.)

image from here.

Here is the e-mail I just received from Glenda, our corespondent at Batcon:

Hello Bat Lovers!

Thank you all for signing up to volunteer for the Night of the Bat on Sunday, June 6th. Here are the instructions for parking and what you will be asked to do. This is going to be a fun gig if you like walking, talking, people watching and learning more about bats while hanging out on the bridge. Our goal is to build awareness, so your main purpose is to be visible in the Red t-shirt you get when you sign in and pass out information.

  

What to expect:  HEAT!

·       It’s going to be a scorcher so don’t forget your sun block, hats (if you want), water and comfortable shoes. We will have some water available to you but you are welcome to bring a water bottle if you like.

·       Remember safety first, you can take breaks as you need them and keep hydrated. The heat can sneak up on you if you are not careful. There will be a children’s activity area at the Hyatt (where you pick up your shirts) so you will be able to cool off when you need to.

Parking:

The majority of volunteers will begin arriving at 3:30 -4:00 the day of the event. The Austin American Statesman has graciously agreed to allow us to park in their parking lot but we do have to see that we only park in the following areas.

·               You should enter on Congress Ave. You will see a sign that says “employees only” but you can go past that one. They are putting it there for us so other people will not take up all the parking.

·               As you pull in you will see a sign straight ahead. Turn left, you will see a barricade  so you should turn to your immediate left. Someone will be posted there to help direct you to parking. We are being asked to park on the West end of the lot. There are 2 rows of employee parking towards the back running parallel to the lake where you can also park. 

·               DO NOT risk getting towed by parking in the area with a sign that says “Photogs Only” There will likely be several SUV’s in them unless they are out doing a story so we can’t block them in. 

·               Please do not park in fire lanes!

·               Once you are parked, walk under the bridge report to the Hyatt at 3:30.

·               Go to the Hyatt’s Hill Country Room D and I will be there to give you further instructions!

Again, thank you so much for sharing your Sunday with us. We appreciate you hope you stick around for all the events of the day!

Glenda

512.529.7723

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