Hutchinson Zoo educator Alexis Martin holds Tim, a prairie kingsnake, during the Third Thursday event in Memorial Hall on Jan. 16, 2025 CREDIT GINA LONG/THE HUTCHINSON TRIBUNE
By Gina Long
January’s Third Thursday festival brought board games, musical performances, animals, food, and opportunities for the public to learn about local organizations at Memorial Hall on Thursday evening.
“Local organizations show what is coming up and what they do. It’s when we celebrate traditions and organizations roll out their new experiments,” Hutch Rec Arts and Humanities Coordinator Jacelyn Chambers said.
The Cosmosphere showed off its new robot dog, Comet, who “brings fun to robotics education,” Cosmosphere STEAM Educator Mary Smith said. “Comet has turned into a big hit. We plan to tie him in with robotics education, outreach and publicity.”
She guided Comet with a remote control, walking him around the exhibit area and waving a mechanical arm to passers-by.
The Hutchinson Chess Club offered several conventional chess tournament boards and a larger cloth board on the floor with child-sized pieces.
The Hutchinson Zoo brought its popular resident Tim, an eight-year-old prairie king snake, who took great interest in a patch of buffalo skin, slithering over and under it between tentative touches from curious onlookers. Zoo educator Alexis Martin said that Tim is “very sweet” and called him “the unofficial mascot of the (zoo’s) education department.”
The Hutchinson Public Library distributed information about upcoming programs for adults, children and young adults, including the annual Kansas Day celebration on Jan. 29, and several book clubs, among the many services offered to the public at little or no cost.
Bondo, an Ornate Box Turtle, shuffled around at the Dillon Nature Center’s booth. Bondo arrived at the center in 2001 after being found on the side of the road by a previous naturalist. His shell had been badly damaged and was repaired with automotive Bondo filler, lending his name. He lives in the center and helps educate visitors about his species.
Nature Education Coordinator Rebecca McElroy takes care of the animals on display and said that ornate box turtles have a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years in captivity, so they expect Bondo to be with them for another 10 to fifteen years.
Dillon Nature Center Director Tony Helfrich discussed the pond’s recent dredging and refill. “Three thousand feet of fire hose and four million gallons of water were used to refill the pond, which took seven weeks over the summer. Evergy donated the water, the Hutchinson Fire Department donated 1,500 feet of fire hose, and the HCC Fire Science Program donated the rest,” he said.
The Family Community Theatre provided a preview of their upcoming production “Finding Nemo Jr.,” which will take the stage at the Flag Theater February 13-16 and 20-23.
The next Third Thursday will occur on February 20, from 6-8 p.m. in downtown Hutchinson.
