Marble Mania & Grand Opening of ScienceSpyTrainingCenter, Sept. 26 At Creative Discovery Museum Science Theatre at Northgate Mall
CreativeDiscoveryMuseum's Science Theatre at Northgate Mall celebrates the grand opening of its newly remodeled space with a special Fourth Friday Family Fun Night devoted to marbles. The event will be held on Friday, Sept. 26, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
"Marble Mania" will be a hands-on celebration of the fun and science of marbles, with a world-renowned marble expert, some young marbles champions and lots of activities.
Children can make their own marble maze, using a 44-foot long pegboard on the wall, to see how slowly they can make a marble roll from four feet up on the wall into a bucket on the floor. They can also make marbles; learn about the energy, forces and motion of marbles; and try to win a bag of marbles by hunting for hidden marbles.
Guests can play in marble games and tournaments, with guidance from an adult marbles expert and two children who are marbles champions. Shawn Hughes is the Park Interpretive Specialist at StandingStoneState Park in Hilham, Tennessee and organizer for the annual National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship, known as the "Super Bowl of Marbles." The Rolley Hole competition has been featured by ESPN, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, Charles Schultz's Peanuts, ABC, NBC, and CBS.
"The game I will be showing the guests will be Ringer," said Shawn. "Ringer is the
official marble game for kids. It is fast paced and children and adults love it!In fact it has a National Championship in Wildwood, NJ each June."
Shawn will bring two Tennessee marbles champions with him: Trevor Norrod, age 14, from Hanging Limb, Tenn. and Brooklyn Cherry, age 13, from Celina, Tenn. Both have won multiple marbles championships, including runner up (Trevor) and third place (Brooklyn) for the 2008 National Marbles Tournament.
Marble Mania is a one-day event, but the 44-foot long marble maze will remain at the Science Theatre and become part if it's regular "simple machines & forces" workshops in the ScienceSpyTrainingCenter.
Half of the former laser theatre has been converted to a workshop space called the ScienceSpyTrainingCenter. The Sept. 26 Marble Mania program will be held in the newly renovated space and in the Theatre's lobby
"The ScienceSpyTrainingCenter is about training kids to find the science wherever they go. It's now a very flexible space. The laser show was about all you could do in this space before. We can do a lot of different things here now," said Science Theatre manager Karen Dewhirst.
Theatre curtains and seating have been removed from the former laser theatre and replaced with new lighting and bright colors, Half of the angled theatre floor has been leveled and filled with lab tables for hands on activities. This is the first part of renovating the entire laser theatre space. She hopes to complete phase Two in the next 12-18 months.
Upcoming 4th Friday Family Fun Nights:
* Oct. 24 -- Slime
* No program in Nov. or Dec.
Cost is $9 per child ages 4 and up for the general public. CreativeDiscoveryMuseum member cost is $7 per child. Parents are free. Call 423-875-8522 to pre-register. Web site: www.cdmScienceTheatre.com.
Creative Discovery Museum Science Theatre is located inside Northgate Mall. The entrances is on the back side of the mall between JC Penney and Belk.
GA Rolley Hole 1st PlaceLandon Hardy, Franklin, TN
(Youth Division)
GA Rolley Hole 1st Place David Gibson, Ashland City, TN
(Adult Division)
For more general information on event, see below, a past previous press release in July.And, as always, thanks for all the media assistance!!
Shawn Hughes & SSSP Staff
OLD PRESS RELEASE
EVENT: National Rolley Hole Marble Tournament
WHERE:StandingStoneState Park
WHEN:September 13th, 2008
DESCRIPTION:
The game of marbles is an ancient and universal pastime.In almost every period of human history and among almost every human culture, marble games have been created, adapted, and adopted.In addition to its traditional practice, interest in marbles has intersected the spheres of fine arts, industry, archeology, retail business, organized sport, and popular culture.
The 26th Annual National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship and Marbles Festival will be a celebration of marbles.It will appeal to nostalgic interests and youthful enthusiasm.It reaches out to the sportsman, the collector, the craft-minded hobbyist, and the spectator.Our event will be hosted and directed by the Tennessee Bureau of State Parks and the Friends of Standing Stone State Park.
This is a one of a kind event, as previously featured by ESPN, ABC evening News, Sports Illustrated, Charles Kurault and CBS, Smithsonian Institution, CNN, National Geographic, Southern Living Magazine, Charles Shultz, and many more... Every one of all ages is invited to participate in marble making, swap meet, demonstrations, live bluegrass music, and food of all types.The Festival will also include five separate marble tournaments for spectators and marble players to enjoy:The 26th Annual National Rolley Hole Championship, Ringer, Tennessee Square, Georgia Rolley Hole, and British.Admission is FREE!
Rolley Hole is a folk game similar to croquet, will be played by the rules of the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship, on a dirt yard that measures 40' by 25', with three holes placed ten feet apart.Teams consist of two players, each attempting to put his marble through a course of twelve holes.Registration is required for Rolley Hole Tournament.Sign ups for the Rolley Hole Tournament will begin August 1st and end on September 1st at the Standing Stone Park Office.Park Office hours are 8:00 am to 3:30 pm (daily).Information needed will be the name, address, and phone number of each player.
Ringer is the official game of the National Marbles Tournament in Wildwood, New Jersey for children between the ages of 8 and 14.Versions of the game are played worldwide, but American rules call for two players, each with one shooter, and 13 target marbles.The game is played within a circle, 10' in diameter, painted on concrete..
Tennessee Square is a traditional Southern game that is still played in areas of northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky.The Glasgow, Kentucky, rules call for a 15'by 20' piece of carpet, with a ten-foot square marked in paint or tape.Eight marbles are placed along this boundary, and one is in the center of the court.Two teams of two players each attempted to win all the target marbles, which are 1.5' in diameter or larger.
Georgia Rolley Holeis the tradition marble game of Georgia.Great for kids and adults!
Britishgame is played in a six-foot diameter ring that is dusted with fine sand. Some 49 marbles are then placed in the ring. There are four to six players in a team. The winner is the first team to knock 25 marbles out of the ring.
INFORMATION:StandingStoneState Park is located 10 miles north of Livingston, TN., just off Highway 52.For information, contact Park Office at (931) 823-6487.
Molly accepting the 4th place Rolley Hole award for Michael Bowman. Michael and I lost to the 4-time winners Mitchell and Wesley Thompson.
Thank you Shawn Hughes for keeping the game of marbles a focal point in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. Special thanks to Kent, Del, Mike, Bonnie, Patrick, all the score keepers, Paul Davis, the Knucklers parents, and all the Rolley Hole marble players. Great job Mitchell and Wes Thompson! You all are the best!
One last thing: If you truly love the game of marbles introduce one kid or person to the game of marbles next year. Also encourage past time marble players to come back and play the greatest game ever!
Rolley Hole Schedule: Sept.12th: 5:00pm Wilbur Walker and Andrew Walker vs Richard Bowman and Robert Emberton 5:45pm Molly Kimmell and Paul Davis vs Jack and Wink Tinsley 8:00pm Zack Simmons and Trevor Norrod vs Junior Strong and Josh Strong 8:45pm Jerry Bowman and Joe Bowman vs Wesley Thompson and Mithcell Thompson
Sept.13th: 8:00am Jeff Kimmell and Michael Bowman vs Tim Waldon and Larry Bowman 9:30am Larry Denton and Russell Collins vs Chase Geralds and Ernie Hale 10:00pm Championship
Marbles among the many ripples in vicinity of Dale Hollow Lake
By KEN BECK • Staff Writer • September 7, 2008 (Tennessean Newspaper)
Andrew Walker of Celina, Tenn., works on his game. The state marble champion will enter the National Rolley Hole Tournament at Standing Stone State Park on Saturday, with his father, Wilbur, as his partner. Andrew is a freshman at Clay County High School.
STANDING STONE STATE PARK, Tenn. -- The world's best marble players take center stage Saturday during the 26th annual National Rolley Hole Championship.
And just a few miles up the road toward Celina, Tenn., sportsmen fish some of the finest smallmouth bass waters in the nation beneath the gorgeous blue surface of Dale Hollow Lake.
"Rolley hole is the so-called Super Bowl of marbles," said Shawn Hughes, park interpretive specialist and coordinator of the marble tournament, which attracted teams from six states in 2007. "It's one time a year that blue-collar, hard-working farmers are the stars of the show, and it's great for us because it's something in the world that no one else does."
The game is played on a 40-by-20-foot dirt marble yard that has three marble-size holes in the center spaced nine feet apart. Playing with a partner, the idea is for players to make the hole or "hole out" 12 times. The strategy comes by figuring out the best way to keep opponents from making the hole, which often requires skillful hard shots against their marbles, sending them ricocheting across the yard much like sending an opponent's ball away from the wicket in the game of croquet.
"It's a game that combines golf, pool and croquet and the strategy of chess, but dead aim is needed," Hughes said. "Some of these guys can hit a marble 20 feet away nine out of 10 times."
Standing Stone State Park is the only state park with a marble yard, mainly because the best players in the U.S. hail from Celina and Monroe County, Ky., just across the state line. The rolley hole yard is covered by a roof and is open on four sides. Players range in age from 14 to 65. This year 14-year-old Andrew Walker will enter the contest with his father, Wilbur.
"It's just fun. You've got to have a strong thumb," said the Clay County High School freshman. "With rolley hole you've got to be pretty smart. It's got a lot of strategy."
Walker, the state marbles champion, said he practices an hour a day. He is a member of the Knucklers, a kids' marbles club coached by Jeff Kimmell of Baxter, Tenn., who was the national marble champion in 1981 and with his wife, Molly, finished fourth one year at the rolley hole tournament.
The Knucklers, 10 children from Putnam, Macon, Overton and Clay counties, practice three hours every Saturday from October through February at the park. "It's a good pastime sport," Kimmell said. "Marbles is a tough game. There is skill to it. It takes 6,000 to 7,000 hours of play to be one of the best."
The park, seven miles south of Celina and seven miles north of Livingston, offers 1,000 acres of natural beauty. "I believe it is exactly what a state park should be. We've got outstanding scenery, a 69-acre lake, beautiful rustic cabins and a campground," Hughes said.
Russell Collins and Larry Denton won their third Rolley Hole tournament this marbles season by capturing the State of Tennessee Rolley Hole Marbles Championship. Next week is the biggest marbles tournament of the year the National Rolley Hole Championship held at the Standing Stone Park in Hilham, Tennessee.
Creative Discovery Museum
Russell Collins and Larry Denton won their third Rolley Hole tournament this marbles season by capturing the State of Tennessee Rolley Hole Marbles Championship. Next week is the biggest marbles tournament of the year the National Rolley Hole Championship held at the Standing Stone Park in Hilham, Tennessee. 
