Thursday, June 2, 2011

How to Plan Tom Sawyer Day: Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me!

Good morning, folks. Everyone get a good sleep last night? Caffeinated? I hope you’re ready, because this morning we’re going to work on tying up all the little bits and bobs of this year’s Tom Sawyer Day—our free family day in conjunction with Connecticut Open House Day.

I’m kidnapping you and making you my first mate so you can help me with every little task associated with this year’s fun and games: Yo Ho, the Pirate’s Life for Me! Yes, pirate themed. The festivities run from 10-4 on Saturday, June 11th.




Now, maybe you came over last year for Tom Sawyer Day, and in that case you will recall the torrential downpours that made our guests want to stay inside rather than enjoy the high seas. Silly landlubbers. But we want everyone dry, so your first order of business is to:

Do a no-rain dance! Maybe that means sitting at your computer quietly, like I am. Whatever it means to you. All I’m saying is, dear Zeus, please let it not rain, because we have three bands who are dying to play outside. So therefore, your second task is to:

Listen to the music of the Red Mollys, Horizon Blue, and Dan Stevens. All three of these bands are really wonderful, and we can’t wait to have them. They are also really nice people, which we like in musicians.

Speaking of really nice people, your next job is to prepare some silly pirate jokes to swap with the Bawdy Buccaneers. They are a roving pirate duo with three levels of bawdiness (it’s going to be at family-level next Saturday).




Also, start doing some finger yoga for our arts and crafts area. You want to make an eyepatch? A flag? Get a tattoo (temporary, of course)? Bloody up some coloring books? You are going to be a blackbeard of terrifying proportions by the time you finish with our Great Hall.

But don’t leave the Museum Center without making testing the stability of your hand-made boat with The Children’s Museum. Their staff will be on hand to show you how to make an unsinkable ship.

Steel up your courage, because you’re also going to meet a real pirate in the form of professional clown and performer Joe Barney. He’s the best. And actually won’t be scary at all, just really fun.

If you’re getting tired from all this, you can also prepare to take a break and watch some or all of the classic film Treasure Island, because we’ll be showing it on loop in our auditorium all day long!




Wait a minute. We forgot to assign you the most important thing! We have animals visiting and we need you to get excited about them! Not only do we have the fabulous Beardsley Zoo bringing Caribbean wildlife, but we’ve also got A Wing & A Prayer Parrot Rescue visiting to demonstrate how amazing parrots are. We’re really excited about both.

Not enough for you? How about the pirate scene from Tom Sawyer acted out by the fantastic performers of Hartford Children’s Theater? All you have to do for that one is sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Once you’ve had enough to walk the plank, you can swim over to our neighbors at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and enjoy their Bicentennial Celebration!

What do you think, mateys? You up for it?

--- The Pirates over at The Mark Twain House & Museum

P.S. And yes, of course, there will be a treasure hunt.

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