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Rockin' Science in Cleveland - Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2023

Blog Date
Author(s)
Julie Smith
Stuart O. Smith, Jr.
Tags
Cleveland
North Coast Harbor
Science Center
NASA
Rock N Roll Hall of Fame

Rockin' Science in Cleveland - Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2023

We want to share the fun we had on Monday, January 16, 2023, where the "City meets the Lake" (Cleveland's North Coast Harbor) on the day our nation honors the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you to the Great Lakes Science Center and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for opening their doors admission-free to the public on this special day!

 

 

Announcing Great, Fun Activities on MLK Day at North Coast Harbor

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Science Center will be offering FREE admission to guests from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, January 16. Guests will have access to special programming including hands-on science cart activities, NASA Chats, and more!

Join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, January 16th in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy. Become inspired to find your voice and do your part to contribute to a more equitable world, just as artists have done throughout history through their music.

The programming celebration includes free virtual programming and museum admission and is a part of the Rock the Block Community Days presented by the John P. Murphy Foundation.

Using the Wayback Machine website, we found that the Rock Hall MLK Day web page had the block quote above posted on January 14, 2023, announcing the January 16, 2023 event. The MLK Day web page is now hidden, and we look forward to watching what gets posted next year for the 2024 event!

Thank you to those who shared on Twitter all the activities happening at Great Lakes Science Center and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. We are glad that we saw these tweets, and made plans to attend.

 

 

Thanks to the @WaybackMachine, we can view the content linked to in the tweet by @RockHall on MLK Day, January 16, 2023 -- A Virtual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

 

 

One Month Until Outdoor Fun at North Coast Harbor's #IceFestCLE

While making plans to attend the MLK Day events at North Coast Harbor, we also learned about their upcoming (Saturday, February 11th) #IceFestCLE 2023. We have enjoyed attending Ice Fest (see our blog posts) many times in the past, and were glad to know of the 2023 date. In the past, the Ice Fest was often combined with MLK Day events at the Great Lakes Science Center and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2023

Monday, September 16, 2023 - A Beautiful Day on Cleveland's North Coast Harbor

Enjoy the energy along the shore at Cleveland's lakefront.

North Coast Harbor is where the city meets the lake in Downtown Cleveland. . . .

The district is home to world-class venues, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center, and FirstEnergy Stadium - home of the Cleveland Browns. . . . For residents and local businesses, the district represents an escape from everyday life, a place to enjoy summer yoga events, or simply to take a deep breath and relax as the sun sets over the waterfront horizon.

Uniquely situated at the city's front door - this district has a feeling all its own, where the energy of the cityscape meets the tranquil waters of Lake Erie. . . .

 

 

Monday, September 16, 2023 - Great Lakes Science Center

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Great Lakes Science Center will offer FREE general admission to all guests from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, January 15.

The Science Center will have special programming throughout the museum from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. including demonstrations, Big Science Shows including our popular Lift Off!, Fire & Ice, Blowout, Electric Madness and CryoBlast shows, Capsule Chats at the Apollo Command Module, hands-on cart activities, a special "Hidden Figures" exhibit from NASA and much more. General admission at the Science Center includes the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, the Polymer Funhouse (for those 7 and younger) and hundreds of hands-on, interactive science exhibits.

Movies in the Cleveland Clinic DOME Theater will be discounted for the event. Adult tickets will be $9 and youth tickets will be available for $7.

It was great to be back again celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., Day at Great Lakes Science Center. We have been writing blog posts about events at the Great Lakes Science Center for over ten years (since our second-ever blog post which was published on March 9, 2012).

 

Wally Waterdrop Welcome!

It was fun to be greeted at the museum with a BIG hug by Wally Waterdrop -- the official mascot of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). Clean water is important! Learn more in our five Water Treatment blog posts, including these about the NEORSD:

 

We love how the NEORSD honors the meaning of MLK Day is the following series of tweet:

 

 

NASA Glenn Research Center and NASA Graphics and Visualization Lab (GVIS)

Graphics and Visualization Lab (GVIS)

The Graphics and Visualization Lab applies advanced visualization technology and expertise to create innovative solutions for NASA and the scientific community.

. . .

For over 30 years, the Graphics and Visualization Lab (GVIS) has been providing visualization support to each of the Glenn Research Center’s core competencies. We are a unique lab that develops graphic visualizations from data and models to provide researchers, scientists, engineers and others with a visual tool to develop solutions for their work.

Our team is part of the Scientific Computing and Visualization Team at Glenn which works to unite the worlds of visualization and scientific computing. . . .
 

The NASA Glenn Research Center booth provided information about internships -- learn more online by clicking here for the NASA Internship Project at Glenn web page.

College Internships
NASA offers an Agency-wide paid college internship program for students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and for students of non-STEM majors that lend support to the NASA mission. Internships are offered in the summer (10-week session), spring and fall (16-week sessions).

The NASA Internship Project (NIP) at Glenn Research Center (GRC) offers students an opportunity to gain valuable work experience in a variety of technical and professional disciplines. During their internship, students work at NASA GRC under the guidance of mentors, while engaging in authentic NASA-related, mission-based R&D and career-related activities. The NASA Internship Project allows students to attend and participate in a variety of planned activities that promote professional development and career exploration. . . .

. . .

High School Internships
NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) provides paid internship opportunities to high school students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and professional administration. High school internships are offered only in the summer, for a duration of 8 weeks. This project offers opportunities for 10th and 11th grade students who will be juniors and seniors in the upcoming school year and is sponsored by the Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). . . .

We always enjoy learning about NASA at the Great Lakes Science Center, but it is particularly interesting to see the interactive displays from the NASA Graphics and Visualization Lab (GVIS).

For the 30th anniversary of GVIS, Stuart was fortunate to be invited to tour both the NASA Glenn Library and GVIS labs in 2019:

 

 

Stay Curious Cleveland! #StayCuriousCLE

 

 

Vote for Cleveland's Science Museum
and
Vote for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Vote for your favorite science museum!

From ancient dinosaurs to futuristic technology, science and natural history come alive at these museums across the country. Vote for your favorite science museum once per day until polls close on Monday, February 13 at noon ET. The winning museums, as determined by your vote, will be announced on Friday, February 24.

Vote for Great Lakes Science Center Best Science Museum

The Great Lakes Science Center offers a community where real scientific challenges provide a learning culture to encourage curiosity, creativity and innovation through hands-on exhibits and the NASA Glenn Visitor Center.

 

Vote for your favorite music museum!

The United States has been the birthplace of numerous musical genres, and some of the world’s most famous singers, songwriters and performing artists start here. These museums celebrate American musical history, through the lens of a specific artist or genre, or with a big-picture approach. Vote for your favorite music museum once per day until polls close on Monday, February 13 at noon ET. The winning museums, as determined by your vote, will be announced on Friday, February 24.

Vote for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Best Music Museum

Yes, this is the hall of fame for rock stars. This museum on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland opened up shop in 1995. Today, visitors can experience different theaters, seven floors of exhibits, all kinds of interactive stations and more, while learning about some of the most influential rock musicians in history.

 

 

Lunch, Science Center Style! BIG Bang Burger

Scientists need to eat too!

Visit Spark Kitchen, located on the lower level of Great Lakes Science Center. See spectacular views of North Coast Harbor as you enjoy delicious meals and nutritious snacks, including oven-baked homemade pizza, hand-crafted sandwiches, homemade soups and seasonal salads.

 

 

Dancing Fire!

JANUARY IS LIGHT AND SOUND MONTH

Seeing Sound Science Show
. . . Can fire dance to music? Observe sound vibrations as we demonstrate how our senses help us hear, feel and even see sound.

 

 

He = Helium

Helium (from Greek: ἥλιος, romanized: helios, lit. 'sun') is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table.[a] Its boiling and melting point are the lowest among all the elements. It is the second lightest and second most abundant element in the observable universe, after hydrogen. . . .

Because of its low density and incombustibility, helium is the gas of choice to fill airships such as the Goodyear blimp.

Stuart thought it was fun finding the Goodyear Blimp under Helium (He) in the Periodic Table of Elements. The blimp was significant to us, since we have fond memories of seeing it while Stuart was traveling the Buckeye Trail's Little Loop (the 250+ mile loop in northeast Ohio) in 2020. Learn more about the Buckeye Trail's Little Loop, Wingfoot Lake blimp hangar, and Wingfoot Lake State Park in our blog post:

 

 

The Lone Sailor

USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation History

On October 8, 2018, Under Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly, on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy, announced the U.S. Navy would commission the fourth ship in U.S. history to be named for the City of Cleveland, Ohio. Since the turn of the 20th century, three previous U.S. Navy ships have carried the name of our fair city, the storied histories of which are detailed in this section. We eagerly look forward to the commissioning and service of yet another warship that will carry the name Cleveland around the globe on behalf of the American people.

Phase I
. . . USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation has partnered with the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. to sponsor a replica of the Lone Sailor Statue. The statue was dedicated on September 10, 2021, in a ceremony at Great Lakes Science Center, the statue’s temporary location. The Foundation is working with the City of Cleveland and other local nonprofits to move the statue to its permanent location in Voinovich Bicentennial Park, scheduled for summer 2023. The Lone Sailor – Cleveland is only the 18th such statue in the world, . . .

Phase III
Retirement as Museum
Phase III would begin as the end of the ship’s service life approaches. If the U.S. Navy has no higher or better use for the ship, the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation would negotiate a purchase with the goal of returning the ship to Cleveland to be docked at the Great Lakes Science Center to become a permanent museum and memorial to all four United States Navy ships that have borne the name Cleveland.

The Great Lakes Science Center is the Lone Sailor Statue's temporary location before it is moved to its permanent home in Voinovich Bicentennial Park as part of the first of three phases planned by the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation.

 

 

Kirsten M. Ellenbogen, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Great Lakes Science Center

Dr. Kirsten Ellenbogen began her tenure as third President and CEO of Great Lakes Science Center in 2013 with a strategic initiative developed in collaboration with corporate leaders to change the community’s narrative around advanced manufacturing for diverse middle-school youth and families. This work was recognized by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who chose the Science Center as the unveiling site for the National Week of Making with Mythbuster’s host Adam Savage in 2016. . . .

Her research focus has included measuring the community impact of science centers and studies at the intersection of rhetoric, science communication, and informal science education. . . . . She is honored to have received the recognition as the 2015 Community Inspiration Award at STEMCON, 2017 Crain’s Women of Note Award, 2019 Crain’s Notable Women in STEM, 2019 Cleveland Magazine Women Living STEM, and the 2021 Cleveland 500 Leaders, Doers, Visionaries, & Idea Generators Who Shape the City.

In 2018, Dr. Ellenbogen was appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication Research and Practice, which she co-chairs. . . .

We were glad to be able to talk to Great Lakes Science Center CEO Kirsten M. Ellenbogen while touring the museum. We let her know that the Great Lakes Science Center was the location of one of the last public events to which Stuart took his dad, who passed away on January 6, 2023.

Stuart also wants to mention that on February 28, 2021, Dr. Ellenbogen sent us information via Twitter direct messaging about how to get a qualified family member scheduled for a COVID-19 vaccine. We always appreciated her reaching out with thoughtfulness and caring at that difficult time at the height of the pandemic. She often shares information that our family finds interesting and useful.

In our blog post, see the list of organizations (including the Great Lakes Science Center) that we want to thank for making possible a higher quality of life for Stuart's dad in what turned out to be his last year:

 

2023: It is with great sadness that my family & I share the passing of my dad one week ago. Stuart O. Smith, Sr., passed away on the morning of Friday, January 6, 2023.

 

2022 Thank You:

 

2021 Thank You for Your Guidance:

 

 

Ice Carvings In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Monday, September 16, 2023 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

CELEBRATE MLK JR. DAY IMMERSED IN MUSIC, CULTURE, AND COMMUNITY

ABOUT THE EVENT
Free virtual event includes exhibit highlights, rare archival footage, educational spotlights, 2022 Induction Ceremony performances, and more. Enjoy the vibrant virtual programming and activities for all ages at rockhall.com and on the Rock Hall’s YouTube channel.

MORE INFORMATION
Join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, January 16th in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy. Become inspired to find your voice and do your part to contribute to a more equitable world, just as artists have done throughout history through their music. The daylong celebration includes free virtual programming and museum admission and is a part of the Rock the Block Community Days presented by the John P. Murphy Foundation.

Using the Wayback Machine website, we found the block quote above on the Rock Hall Virtual MLK Day Celebration web page (January 16, 2023). The 2023 MLK Day web page (January 16, 2023) is currently hidden, so check early next year to see if it returns for January 15, 2024!

After exploring the Great Lakes Science Center, we headed to Cleveland's home of rock -- the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

 

 

 

First Amendment at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.

. . .

Although the First Amendment applies only to state actors,[1] there is a common misconception that it prohibits anyone from limiting free speech, including private, non-governmental entities.[2] Moreover, the Supreme Court has determined that protection of speech is not absolute.[3]

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is important -- we encourage you to stop and think about what is presented in the museum's exhibit about the first amendment.

 

 

The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be

. . . Experience one of the most iconic moments of the 20th Century by stepping inside The Beatles’ January 1969 rehearsals, studio sessions, and legendary Apple Corps rooftop concert, the band’s final live performance. . . .

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
This groundbreaking exhibition curated by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is an immersive complement to Peter Jackson's docuseries, “The Beatles: Get Back.”

Fans will experience The Beatles’ creative journey through the exhibit’s original instruments, clothing, and handwritten lyrics used by The Beatles and seen in the film, including items loaned directly by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of George Harrison and John Lennon. The exhibit will feature high-definition film clips, audio, and custom projections, transporting fans into The Beatles’ vibrant world of January 1969.

Like Jackson's “Get Back” docuseries, the exhibit shows how The Beatles composed and recorded many of their iconic songs from scratch. The exhibit's three screening rooms feature a selection of footage from each location from the docuseries: Twickenham, Apple Studios, and the Apple Corps rooftop. The footage from the recording sessions and conversations turn the clock back to 1969, showing the intimacy, joyousness, and humor as The Beatles write and record songs for Let It Be and some songs featured on Abbey Road and future solo albums.

EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS
Some of the exhibit’s unique items include:

Paul McCartney's black and gray shirt that was worn in the studio and handwritten lyrics for "I've Got A Feeling."

John Lennon's iconic eyeglasses, Wrangler jacket, an Epiphone electric guitar, and handwritten lyrics for "Dig A Pony."

George Harrison's pink pinstripe suit and handwritten lyrics for "I Me Mine."

Fans will also enjoy audio engineer, producer, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Glyn Johns' record acetate from the sessions and iconic photography by Linda McCartney and by Ethan Russell, who documented the band’s January 1969 rehearsals, sessions, and rooftop performance, and whose photos are featured in the Let It Be album art.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Jumping Bean @burpeesRfun

Reading the responses to what we share on Twitter about the places we explore is part of the fun! We appreciate @burpeesRfun's feedback!

 

 

"...best and biggest free day of the year, we delighted 7,375 people..."

Congratulations, Kirsten Ellenbogen, for this grand day honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., and thank you for sharing all that is to be discovered at Cleveland's Great Lakes Science Center.

 

 

Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 11th -- Ice Fest 2023!

Come join the City of Cleveland, Downtown Cleveland Alliance and North Coast Harbor for Ice FEST.

Saturday, February 11, 2023
A wintry activation will take place in Voinovich Bicentennial Park and the walkways between the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame + Museum. The one-day event is free to the public, features ice displays and winter fun at the lakefront. So bundle up and bring the whole family to enjoy our beautiful North Coast Harbor, where the city meets the lake in Downtown Cleveland!

Guests of all ages are sure to enjoy the family friendly day at North Coast Harbor. Ice sculptures will be on display by 10AM.

. . .

* 2:30 PM | Fire Pits & S’more Kits at Voinovich Park (while supplies last)
  * Carving Demo in Voinovich Park
* 3:30 PM | Ice Tower build and carving demo in Voinovich Park
* 5:30 PM | Fire & Ice Tower Lighting
* 5:45 PM | Ohio Burn Unit Fire Performance (30 minute show) in Voinovich Park

 

 

Thank You,
Great Lakes Science Center
and
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
for the Great Time on
Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2023!

 

Related Blog Posts

We always like ending our blog posts with links to related blog posts:

In addition to the above links related directly to North Coast Harbor, please see these additional related links:

  • Ice Fest - Ice Festivals at North Coast Harbor, Lake Metroparks, and Brite Winter.

  • NASA - Many blog posts about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

  • Water Treatment - Tours with and information about Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), Akron Waterways Renewed, and Cleveland Water.

We always enjoy attending events at North Coast Harbor, and we look forward to doing so in the future.