Date: Fri 02-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Rebecca-Reed-bat-contest

Full Text:

Going Batty, And Being Happy To Do So!

(with photo)

BY SHANNON HICKS

When Rebecca Reed visited the Science Center of Connecticut during Christmas

break, she never dreamed going in that her imagination would leave a imprint

on the wildlife sanctuary of the West Hartford facility.

Rebecca and her family found out at that time about a "Name The Bats" Contest

when they visited the science center in January. It was the Reed family's

first visit to the science center, but it will certainly not be the last.

On March 12, Rebecca was named one of nine winners in the "Name The Bats"

Contest. The contest came about after nine female Egyptian fruit bats became

permanent residents of the science center's UTC Wildlife Sanctuary. Children

age 15 and under were invited by the science center, along with co-sponsor The

Discovery Channel Store at West Farms Mall, to help name the nocturnal

animals.

Rebecca, an 8-year old resident of Newtown, was honored when the selection

committee chose her suggested name, Cairo, for one of the bats. Rebecca said

she thought of the name because she and her third grade class at Hudson County

Montessori in Danbury had recently been studying Egypt and "thinking Egyptian

things."

Inspiration also came from a source very close to home. "It was similar to my

sister's name, too," Rebecca explained last week. Rebecca's younger sister is

named Kira.

Contest winners from across the state were honored during a special naming

ceremony at the Science Center of Connecticut on March 20. In addition to

Rebecca, the other winners were Katie Benevides and Megan Benevides of

Rockville; Megan Herman of Bristol; Matt Lardie of Plainville; Gary Mazrek of

Southington; Alex Moshier of Hampton; Katy Richardson of Windsor; and Jay

Weingast of West Hartford.

In addition to Rebecca's Cairo, the other eight bats have now assumed their

new names, which include Bianca, Batricia, Batsheba, Battina, Cleobatra, Echo,

Isis and Kiara. Judges sorted through the 169 entries that were received

during the one-month suggestion/entry period before making their final

decision.

"The ceremony went really well. We were very pleased with it," Kerry Ann

Kowar, a spokesman for the science center, said this week. "We had some great

suggestions, and some great names. It was very hard to narrow it down, but we

were very pleased.

"I think we made a lot of kids happy, and a lot of parents happy, and they

really became a part of history. The names they chose are now in the sanctuary

on a sign, and they will stay there as long as the bats are alive. That sign

will always be there."

The Egyptian fruit bats ( Rousettus aegyptiacus ) were originally part of a

traveling exhibit, "Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats," which

visited the science center last fall. They now reside in a new custom-made

cage designed especially for the light-sensitive mammals.

In addition to being invited to tour the museum's permanent and traveling

exhibits and taking in a show at the museum's Gengras Planetarium with their

families, each contest winner received quite a gift package for their efforts.

Winners received a certificate announcing their win, a home planetarium kit,

assorted animal toys, pencils, free passes to return to the museum and science

center with their family, and of course, a stuffed brown bat doll. Each doll

was wearing a necklace with their live counterpart's new name.

"The bat doll, I think, was the favorite," Ms Kowar said. "Everyone was

carrying theirs around, we kept seeing them all afternoon. Each of the winners

also had a name tag that announced who they were and that they were winners of

the contest. They all looked so happy to have those on.

"Rebecca, like the other kids, just looked so proud of her achievement," Ms

Kowar said. During the ceremony on March 20, staff members of the science

center took photographs of each of the winners. "When we took her photo, she

was standing there with her bat and she was just smiling from ear to ear."

Although she has not yet studied bats in school, Rebecca says she likes the

nocturnal mammals. She and her father built a bat house last year, which they

hope to have up soon.