LEGO-Palooza Comes to Town
By Kelsey Richards

People of all ages gathered at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on Saturday afternoon to observe and participate in LEGO-Palooza. Budding artists got the chance to show off their LEGO designs as members of the North Carolina LEGO Users Group. Some members took up to three months to create their designs. One of the artists, Cynthia Bradham, says she’s been designing with LEGOs for more than 30 years, but her main goal is just to have fun.

“My goal in this display was just to make something that would be engaging and fun for the kids to see and fun for me to build and create, and I think it turned out pretty good,” Bradham said.

Children could also try their hand at making some LEGO creations. Organizers set up an engineering station with motors for children in fourth grade and older. They also had a “creation station” for smaller children with a giant mat of LEGO pieces. Jaqueta Abbey has been working at the planetarium and science center to help organize this event for months, and she said she thinks building is a good opportunity for children to further their love of science.

“We try and foster a love of science and learning by using toys like LEGOs to get their mind thinking in a different way, like maybe I do want to go into a science or engineering and do something like that,” Abbey said.

This is the second year that LEGO-Palooza has been held at the Morehead Planetarium. The event planners say they hope to make it an annual event.