Little River Hosts State-wide Star Party April 5th

State-wide Star Party 

Little River Regional Park and Natural Area will be a part of North Carolina’s first statewide star party, a signature event of the North Carolina Science Festival. Astronomy clubs, state and local parks, planetariums and nature centers will all host public skywatching sessions at dozens of sites across North Carolina on Friday, April 5, 2013.

Participants coming to Little River's Star Party are also invited to take a walk through the planets. A scale model of our solar system will be on display along one of the park's trails. The distance from the Sun to Pluto becomes an easy walk that is less than a half mile.

Citizen Science: GLOBE at Night
 

There will be an opportunity to participate in scientific research by collecting data for the GLOBE at Night worldwide citizen science project. (This research is perfect for children as well as adults.) Count the stars you can see with your unaided eyes in the constellation Leo the Lion. The data collected will help document the darkness of the night sky over North Carolina.

About the NC Science Festival

North Carolina Science Festival is a two-week-long, 500-mile-wide celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Across the state, North Carolinians participate in science talks, lab tours, nature experiences, exhibits, performances and other activities, hosted by all kinds of community organizations - schools, colleges and universities, parks, libraries, museums and businesses.
 
NCSF was founded in 2010 by UNC-Chapel Hill's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and is the first statewide science festival in the U.S. Morehead continues to produce the Festival in partnership with many sponsors and event hosts. The 2013 Festival is scheduled for April 5-21, and Time Warner Cable is the 2013 Fesitval Champion.
 
Learn more at www.ncsciencefestival.org. 

Big Donation from Little River Trail Run

The 2013 Little River Trail Run generated an all time record donation from the Trailheads. A check for $8,000 was presented to park staff on February 11th. This was the eighth annual running of the trails and with this year's check the total amount donated to the park over the years exceeds $40,000.

Among other items, the park plans to use some of the money to purchase a zero-turn mower to replace its current mower which is over 8 years old. They will also be able to get a trailer for hauling larger peices of equipment.



Park staff are presented with the donation check from the 2013 Little River Trail Run. Pictured (r to l): Mike DiFabio, Layna Mosley, Dave Elam, and Michelle Pesavento

The Trailheads also presented a check for $1,000 to the Triangle Offroad Cyclists (TORC), the local mountain bike club that helps maintain the mountain bike trails at Little River.



 

 In addition to the monetary donations, the Trailheads also purchased carbon offsets from two different companies. Over the years, the equivalent of 23,000 trees have been planted with the offsets that have been purchased.



By the Numbers: January 2013

One of the features of our print newsletter was publishing some of the statistics that we keep track of here in the park like rainfall amounts, average temperature and the number of visitors. So in keeping with that tradition we begin 2013 with the numbers for January:

Total number of visitors: 3,439

Total rainfall amount: 4.475 inches

Average daily highs: 51.81 degrees

Average daily lows: 34.23 degrees

Mountain bike trails open: 58% of the month