Hello! Another week of fun, free (and almost free) events in Columbia. Everything is free except the $1 movies at Forum 8 Theater noted below. This week, there are 44 events on the calendar at the time of this posting. As usual, details are in the notes of each event, and we are continually updating the calendar, so keep checking back. Some highlights are noted below.

Astronomy

The Summer Solstice (first day of summer) begins at 5:51 am on Sat, Jun 21, 2014.

The Columbia Public Library has Party With the Stars on Fri, Jun 20, 7:30-9:30 pm. This regular event is hosted by Val Germann and co-sponsored by the Central Missouri Astronomical Association. As the library is closed at this time, park at the back of the parking lot and enter through the Gene Martin Secret Garden (a librarian is usually near the gate). The program always begins with a slide show in the Children’s Program Room (the “egg”), followed (weather permitting) by sky viewing through telescopes set up in the parking lot. Lots of fun!

Movies

This week, the Forum 8 summer movies begin with Happy Feet 2. The summer movies are $1 per person, and show every weekday at 10 am. This summer has a welcome mix of new (The LEGO movie), a bit older movies, and wonderful classics (The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka). The complete schedule is on the FCMo calendar and as follows:

June 16 – June 20 — Happy Feet 2 [PG]
June 23 – June 27 — Journey 2: The Mysterious Island [PG]
June 30 – July 4 — The LEGO Movie [PG]
July 7 – July 11 — Where the Wild Things Are [PG]
July 14 – July 18 — Wizard of Oz (1939 re-mastered) [PG]
July 21 – July 25 — Yogi Bear [PG]
July 28 – August 1 — TMNT (2007) [PG] [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]
August 4 – August 8 — Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) [G]
August 11 – August 15 — Despicable Me 2 [PG]

Ragtag has Little Shop of Horrors on Mon, Jun 16. This showing is connected to the Lyceum Theatre production, with a Lyceum Theatre Team meet-and-greet at 5 pm and the movie starting at 5:30 pm. Then on Tue, Jun 17, 5:30 pm, they are showing the documentary Age of Champions, connected to the upcoming Missouri State Senior Games, followed by a discussion.

The Columbia Public Library is showing Particle Fever on Wed, Jun 18, at 6:30 pm.

The Armory’s movie night on Sat, Jun 21, 6 pm, is Walking With Dinosaurs: The Movie.

Kids’ Events

As always, the Columbia Public Library has loads of events for kids, from age 0, and more for older kids for the summer. Many programs are related to the Summer Reading Program with a theme of science this year. (If you have kids, and have not signed up, you can still sign up–for free–at the Children’s area desk. All kids get a free book after completing the program.) See the FCMo calendar for all the offerings.

The Columbia Parks & Rec Family Fun Fest for June has the theme Explore Outdoors, and will be held on Wed, Jun 18, 6-8 pm, in Flat Branch Park.

Computer

The Columbia Public Library continues to offer lots of computer classes and training, including topics related to their digital offerings. See the FCMo calendar for all the offerings.

Art

On the afternoon of Thu, Jun 19, the MU Museum of Art & Archaeology (which is now located in Mizzou North, the building formerly known as Ellis Fischel Cancer Center), offers class/workshop for kids (K-8) on experimenting with color. Call 573-882-3591 to register.

These are, of course, only some highlights. Check out the calendar for lots more, and thank you for visiting!