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The Sciencenter was transformed Saturday from a children's science museum to a black tie-optional gala celebration in a museum for kids of all ages.  New York State Senator George Winner sponsored a resolution that was adopted February 26th paying tribute to 'an incredible 25 years of science education through interactive learning.'  Purity Ice Cream unveiled a new flavor that they call 'Sciencenter Supernova.'  Champagne was plentiful as guests were greeted at the door. Guests paid $50 each to celebrate and begin to support the next 25 years.  "It was a simple, but a bold idea to create a science center for this community," said Sciencenter Executive Director Charles Trautmann.  "And with your interest and with your sweat equity and with your contributions, here's what you created."

The museum called the celebration '25 Trips Around the Sun.'  Seven stations were spread around the museum to celebrate the seven major periods of the museum's history.  The lobby depicted the early years.  Other areas celebrated the community build, the museum expansion, Cornell connections, engaging the community in hands-on science, museum school programs, and the most recent push for sustainability.

Trautmann told the crowd that the initial gift to the Sciencenter was a grocery bag filled with $280 of small change donated by students and teachers of Ithaca's (then) Central Elementary School.  The bag was given to Debbie Levin and Ilma Levine after 15 years teaching science there, who used the money to found the Sciencenter.  This year the museum staff took up a collection, which Trautmann presented to the co-founders on the podium.


Again the donation was $280, but this time, in the interest of sustainability, in a reusable Wegman's cloth grocery bag.  "What's special about this $280 is just like your original $280 that seeded this idea, this $280 is going to seed a new endowment fund which we're calling the Founders Fund," Trautmann told them.  "This is the first donation to an endowment fund in your honor, wna we hope that will grow."

Trautmann announced that a new category of trustee has been created to recognize people who have served for at least two terms with distinction on the museum's board of directors.  He recognized 21 men and women who make up the first group in this category.

Most inspiring was a recounting of landmark achievements the community has achieved in creating and maintaining the museum.  Trautmann noted that the Sciencenter was in four locations before settling in the current one.  He said that 3,400 volunteers spent 50,000 hours to build the original museum.


Noting that one of the community's most beloved events is the annual egg drop contest, plastic eggs were dropped from the balcony containing messages.  The first announced that 52 donors made donations as part of the gala, amounting to $51,000.  It also said that a matching grant would bringing the event's total contribution up to $102,000.

The message in the next egg said that the Founder's Fund had raised $280,000 for the museum's endowment.  When the third egg parachuted from the balcony its message was that an anonymous donor agreed last year to match endowment gifts, making the total $1.8 million, and bringing the endowment up to $4 million.

"I hope that all of you will enjoy this evening with the knowledge that your presence here will not only help us celebrate the first 25 years," Trautmann told the crowd.  "It will also lay the financial groundwork for success, and bigger and better educational things in the next 25 years.  Thank you to everyone who has helped insure the future of this place."


Upstairs the Carl Sagan Appreciation Society 's Patrick Fish was collecting signatures on a petition to urge the United States Postal Service to create a postage stamp to the prominent Cornell University astronomer who also supported the Sciencenter in its early years.  Fish displayed four potential designs.  Sagan's widow and collaborator, Ann Druyan, was there to support the museum and the commemorative stamp effort.

The gala was sponsored by INCODEMA, Inc., with the additional support of Cornell University, King Ferry Winery, M&T Bank, Merrill Lynch Ithaca, Sciarabba Walker & Company, Triad Foundation, and Wegmans Food Markets sponsoring the individual stations.  A cake depicting the solar system came from Hope's Way, and food, wine, and beer stations were sprinkled around the museum.


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