"Amazing Animals" Exhibit at Sands Point Preserve is Extended through March 2008

NOTE: The Amazing Animals exhibit will reopen at Tanglewood Preserve in July 2008. Tanglewood is located in Lakeview between Ocean Avenue and Lakeview Road and serves as the home for the Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL), the nonprofit educational group running the exhibit. Please call CSTL at 516-764-0045 for more information.

"Amazing Animals,” a 10,000-square-foot exhibit featuring live animals and hands-on activities and films, has been extended through March 2008, at the Sands Point Preserve, announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi. The exhibit, which opened in June 2007, was originally scheduled to run through Jan. 6, 2008.

A flying squirrel is among the many creatures in the Amazing Animals exhibit at Sands Point Preserve.

“The purpose of the exhibit is to provide an exciting group event that teaches as well as entertains,” explains Ray Ann Havasy, one of the exhibit creators and head of the non-profit Long Island-based Center for Science Teaching and Learning. CSTL is collaborating with the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums to bring this family-friendly exhibit to the public. The exhibit is also being presented by Petland Discounts and Hagen for Pets.

The exhibit features live animals from around the world, including flying squirrels, the red-eye tree frog and the American alligator, and also incorporates numerous hands-on activities such as an “Endangered Species Area,” “Be-A-Vet” station, and toddler play area.

During the exhibit’s run, parents will also have the opportunity to reserve a birthday party for their children at this unique site, with CSTL handling the invitations, goody bags, pizza and refreshments. In addition, the science group will run a summer camp at Sands Point, with two one-week sessions offered. The camp will include hands-on activities, exclusive access to the exhibit, and a behind-the-scenes field trip to a zoo or aquarium.

In conjunction with the exhibit, CSTL is launching the Young Explorers Science Club, a new nationwide science club for children ages 8 to 12. Parents can register their children at the exhibit or at CSTL’s Website, www.CSTL.org. The exhibit is open Wednesdays through Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. During the extended exhibit period from January through March 2008, admission has been reduced to $5 for adults, children and seniors, with those under three years of age admitted free. Special field trip rates are available.

For recorded information, call (516) 571-7900; for group reservations, birthday parties and other information, call (516) 764-0045.

Perhaps the most impressive of the North Shore’s early-20th-century estates, Sands Point first served as the home for railroad heir Howard Gould and was later purchased by Daniel and Florence Guggenheim. The 216-acre preserve, located by the Long Island Sound, is dominated by the massive Hempstead House but also includes a second mansion, “Falaise,” that was built by Capt. Harry Guggenheim around 1923. (Guggenheim was the founder with his wife, Alicia Patterson, of Newsday.) In addition to the properties, Sands Point provides access to beautiful walking trails, wooded areas and shoreline. The Sands Point Preserve is located at 127 Middleneck Road in Sands Point.