Inauguration Day is coming, and Seymore the Fish is ready to be installed

January 19, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Alert
Media Contact: Jonathan Zarov, Director of Marketing
608.354.0149, 608.335.2783

Photos available upon request. Media should contact Jonathan Zarov if they would like to attend the members-only PJ Party and view the inauguration of Seymore.

Madison, Wis. (January 19, 2017) — On Friday, January 20, 2017, Seymore the Fish will take the oath of office and be installed as the newest exhibit, Seymore’s Adventure, at Madison Children’s Museum. Seymore won office through a kids-only voting process in the Polling Place exhibit. Voting took place in the museum over a few weeks, closing on November 8, 2016. Seymore, an incumbent with deep, previous experience as an MCM exhibit, handily defeated challenges from exhibit proposals Cars! Cars! Cars! and Magical Mirrors.

In an election characterized by its orderliness, decorum, and high participation rate, 1,310 votes were cast for exhibits. Brenda Baker, director of exhibits for the museum, says “We’re so pleased to see such strong turnout from young voters. They are starting to practice their roles living in a civil society.”

Here are the vote totals:

Like most inauguration parties, attendance is by invitation only. A brief inauguration ceremony takes place at 6:10 p.m., Friday, January 20, 2017, as part of the museum’s members-only PJ Party. The Honorable Paul B. Higginbotham of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals will administer the Oath of Office of MCM Exhibit.

Seymore will “remain in office” through 2017. Here’s what kids can expect to see and do when they visit this tireless, public-serving exhibit:

• Crawl through Seymore, learn about fish anatomy
• Imagine yourself below the surface of our lake swimming with the fish that call Madison lakes home
• Don a life jacket and catch fish from the fishing boat
• Try on lake creature costumes
• Listen to sounds of a lake environment
• Learn about the animals that live underwater in Madison’s lakes and around the shores
• Read about the water cycle, wetlands, fresh water, fish, animals, limnology in the giant “lake”

There was a referendum on the Polling Place exhibit ballot as well. Madison Children’s Museum staff had been deeply divided regarding the proposed celebration of Poop Day, a holiday observed after the NFL Super Bowl in many places across the country. The issue was put to a referendum, and the young people spoke loud and clear:

Should MCM celebrate National Poop Day?
Because no living thing can survive for long without pooping; and because everyone knows that poop can be really funny; and because even the word poop is pretty funny; and because pooping brings us closer by being something we all do; the Madison Children Museum will, each February, celebrate National Poop Day, with fun activities about poop.

Here are the vote totals:

Following the will of the people, the museum will celebrate National Poop day at MCM on Saturday, February 4, 2017. All poop-related activities, held throughout the day, are free with admission:

• Enjoy a reading of Everyone Poops to kick off the day at 10 a.m.
• Test your knowledge of animal scat facts with Henry Vilas Zoo, 10 a.m. – noon
• Learn about our city’s waste-handling systems with a guest from the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, noon – 2 p.m.
• Cast models of coprolite (fossilized animal dung) and animal scat, 2 – 4 p.m.
• Examine animal scat under the microscope
• Craft with poopaper
• Measure intestines from the animal world and craft a digestive system for a museum friend