Birthday Bash and Mud Day set for Georgeson
June 17, 2019
The Georgeson Birthday Bash and Mud Day will take place June 23 in the Georgeson Botanical
Garden at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The event will include kids' activities, live music and, of course, a giant mud pit for romping in. Activities will include making mud pies and clay sculptures, painting with dirt, storytime, a spinning color wheel, bubbles and information booths. The public is also invited to enjoy the garden and birthday cake to celebrate its namesake, Charles Georgeson.
Information booths and activities will be available from noon to 2 p.m., and the mud pit will be open from 1 to 3 p.m. Admission is $5 per family.
The garden started hosting Mud Day in 2013, and the mud pit remains a big draw, according to Mathew Carrick, the garden’s program coordinator.
“Kids find it so fun,” he said.
More than 600 people attended last year’s event, which combined Mud Day with a birthday celebration for Georgeson, an agronomist who founded experiment stations in Alaska.
Fairbanks artist Heidi Morel and several community organizations, including the Fairbanks Children’s Museum and the Interior Alaska Food Network, will provide activities. The Fairbanks Community Food Bank will collect food donations. The Georgeson Botanical Garden Society, the Georgeson Botanical Garden and the UAF School of Natural Resources and Extension sponsor the event.
Water will be available for cleaning off, and towels are recommended. The garden is located at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, 117 W. Tanana Drive. To alleviate parking congestion, a free shuttle will run from the Nenana parking lot, across Tanana Loop from the Patty Center, from 11:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information, contact Carrick at 907-474-7222 or email gbgsociety@gmail.com.