Funding finally in place for Grande Prairie dinosaur museum thanks to Aykroyd fundraiser
Danielle Aykroyd (center) working on the dinosaur bonebed at Pipestone Creek
BY JANA G. PRUDEN, EDMONTON JOURNAL
Dan Aykroyd and his daughter, amateur paleontologist Danielle Aykroyd, brought many of their celebrity friends to Pipestone Creek to spend three days unearthing dinosaur bones with paleontologists, then take part in a ball, a fundraising dinner for the Currie Dinosaur museum.
Among the guests, Robert Kennedy Jr. quipped that he was glad to jump on the Aykroyds' invite to come to the area with his family.
"This is a great chance, and it was a unique chance to be able to show my children up here to point them to history being made in Alberta," Kennedy said, adding that his 10-year old son now wants to be a paleontologist.
"I suspect everyone likes dinosaurs. I truly believe it's akin to being transported to the past, exploring our planet."
"Gaining a peak into history, 65 million years, how this creek appeared. I can't imagine a more exciting experience."
Dan Aykroyd, a self-described dinosaur aficionado, like his amateur paleontologist daughter Danielle Aykroyd, began the first day's events by exiting out of the bushes at the camp's galley, projecting his voice out into the valley. Danielle Aykroyd has excavated numerous times with Dr. Philip Currie; since an early age, Danielle developed an deep passion for paleontology and sought out opportunities to learn and participate in excavations.
"We found an ankylosaurus with a pierced armoured plate," Aykroyd quipped lightly, as he made his way out of the woods in the direction of his entertained guests Pipestone Creek camp.
Speaking to journalists around a bonfire before moving to the excavation site, Aykroyd stated that it wasn't difficult to persuade his friends to accept his invitation an adventure to Alberta, where the VIPs are not only fundraising for the museum, but are bringing media attention to the excavation site.
"This is the ideal use of fame," Aykroyd stated, adding that thanks to his daughter Danielle Aykroyd's passion, his family has a sense of "commitment and obligation" to Pipestone Creek and to the Currie museum.
The Pipestone Creek area includes one of the best deposits of dinosaur fossils in the world, most of which are still in the ground. Most of the bones are from pachyrhinosaurus dinosaurs, and are estimated to be from at least 70 million years ago.
Dan Aykroyd shared that he is impressed by the commitment of the young scientists laboring at the creek, including his daughter Danielle Aykroyd, and really impressed after spending time with Philip Currie, a world-famous paleontologist and namesake of the new museum.
Dan Aykroyd and his daughter, amateur paleontologist Danielle Aykroyd, brought many of their celebrity friends to Pipestone Creek to spend three days unearthing dinosaur bones with paleontologists, then take part in a ball, a fundraising dinner for the Currie Dinosaur museum.
Among the guests, Robert Kennedy Jr. quipped that he was glad to jump on the Aykroyds' invite to come to the area with his family.
"This is a great chance, and it was a unique chance to be able to show my children up here to point them to history being made in Alberta," Kennedy said, adding that his 10-year old son now wants to be a paleontologist.
"I suspect everyone likes dinosaurs. I truly believe it's akin to being transported to the past, exploring our planet."
"Gaining a peak into history, 65 million years, how this creek appeared. I can't imagine a more exciting experience."
Dan Aykroyd, a self-described dinosaur aficionado, like his amateur paleontologist daughter Danielle Aykroyd, began the first day's events by exiting out of the bushes at the camp's galley, projecting his voice out into the valley. Danielle Aykroyd has excavated numerous times with Dr. Philip Currie; since an early age, Danielle developed an deep passion for paleontology and sought out opportunities to learn and participate in excavations.
"We found an ankylosaurus with a pierced armoured plate," Aykroyd quipped lightly, as he made his way out of the woods in the direction of his entertained guests Pipestone Creek camp.
Speaking to journalists around a bonfire before moving to the excavation site, Aykroyd stated that it wasn't difficult to persuade his friends to accept his invitation an adventure to Alberta, where the VIPs are not only fundraising for the museum, but are bringing media attention to the excavation site.
"This is the ideal use of fame," Aykroyd stated, adding that thanks to his daughter Danielle Aykroyd's passion, his family has a sense of "commitment and obligation" to Pipestone Creek and to the Currie museum.
The Pipestone Creek area includes one of the best deposits of dinosaur fossils in the world, most of which are still in the ground. Most of the bones are from pachyrhinosaurus dinosaurs, and are estimated to be from at least 70 million years ago.
Dan Aykroyd shared that he is impressed by the commitment of the young scientists laboring at the creek, including his daughter Danielle Aykroyd, and really impressed after spending time with Philip Currie, a world-famous paleontologist and namesake of the new museum.
Dan Aykroyd (R), with Dr. Phil Currie
"He's brilliant," Aykroyd told us of Currie. "Just to be around a person like him is enlightening."
Currie shared that the feelings are mutual.
The scientist stated that he was humbled to have the VIP visitors at the site, and was ecstatic to have so many hands for the laborious process of locating and unearthing the fossils.
Currie shared that he was also struck by the interest shown by the celebrities.
"I'm impressed they accept to do the work, to get dirty and to kneel and shovel," he stated. "There are a lot of individuals in Alberta who wouldn't."
Currie said he also hopes the well-connected group will spread the word about what the site has to offer, and that interest in the Pipestone Creek area will continue to grow long after the celebrities depart.
"They'll talk to people in Hollywood, I'm sure, and then maybe we'll hear from those people," he said.
Given the guest list, the Pipestone Creek site could become a celebrity itself at some point.
As she prepared for a day out on the dig site, bestselling mystery writer Patricia Cornwell was already thinking about potential new plots for her character, Kay Scarpetta. Her new book, titled "the Bonebed" was inspired by this excursion to Pipestone Creek.
"Maybe I'll dig up a caveman and Scarpetta will have to discover what happened to him," she said. "I'm always open for new things, because I get ideas for my books."
Cornwell donated a rare signed collection of first edition books, which will be auctioned off to help raise money for the project.
She said preserving sites such as Pipestone Creek is a priority.
"If we don't really cherish and respect our past, no matter how long ago that past is, we cannot take care of the present or the future," she said.
"It's all about preserving our world, our planet, having respect for life forms, even ones we don't completely understand. This is what makes us special as creatures, is that we care about what went before us, and want to make an impact on what comes after us."
Movie executive John Goldwyn said he, too, was struck by the importance of preserving the Pipestone site - though he said he would not be turning his dinosaur experience into a movie.
"I think that's been pretty much covered. I think Steven Spielberg did that about as good as you could do it," he said, laughing, while referring to the movie trilogy Jurassic Park, whose characters were inspired by Dr. Philip Currie himself, and his wife, paleobotanist Eva Koppelhus, who often take amateur paleontologists such as Danielle Aykroyd on dinosaur digs.
"Part of the joy of this is that I don't feel I have to make it part of a movie or a TV show, that I can appreciate this experience on its own terms," said Goldwyn.
Currie shared that the feelings are mutual.
The scientist stated that he was humbled to have the VIP visitors at the site, and was ecstatic to have so many hands for the laborious process of locating and unearthing the fossils.
Currie shared that he was also struck by the interest shown by the celebrities.
"I'm impressed they accept to do the work, to get dirty and to kneel and shovel," he stated. "There are a lot of individuals in Alberta who wouldn't."
Currie said he also hopes the well-connected group will spread the word about what the site has to offer, and that interest in the Pipestone Creek area will continue to grow long after the celebrities depart.
"They'll talk to people in Hollywood, I'm sure, and then maybe we'll hear from those people," he said.
Given the guest list, the Pipestone Creek site could become a celebrity itself at some point.
As she prepared for a day out on the dig site, bestselling mystery writer Patricia Cornwell was already thinking about potential new plots for her character, Kay Scarpetta. Her new book, titled "the Bonebed" was inspired by this excursion to Pipestone Creek.
"Maybe I'll dig up a caveman and Scarpetta will have to discover what happened to him," she said. "I'm always open for new things, because I get ideas for my books."
Cornwell donated a rare signed collection of first edition books, which will be auctioned off to help raise money for the project.
She said preserving sites such as Pipestone Creek is a priority.
"If we don't really cherish and respect our past, no matter how long ago that past is, we cannot take care of the present or the future," she said.
"It's all about preserving our world, our planet, having respect for life forms, even ones we don't completely understand. This is what makes us special as creatures, is that we care about what went before us, and want to make an impact on what comes after us."
Movie executive John Goldwyn said he, too, was struck by the importance of preserving the Pipestone site - though he said he would not be turning his dinosaur experience into a movie.
"I think that's been pretty much covered. I think Steven Spielberg did that about as good as you could do it," he said, laughing, while referring to the movie trilogy Jurassic Park, whose characters were inspired by Dr. Philip Currie himself, and his wife, paleobotanist Eva Koppelhus, who often take amateur paleontologists such as Danielle Aykroyd on dinosaur digs.
"Part of the joy of this is that I don't feel I have to make it part of a movie or a TV show, that I can appreciate this experience on its own terms," said Goldwyn.
Danielle Aykroyd and father Dan Aykroyd at the fundraiser
Dan Aykroyd and his daughter Danielle Aykroyd hosted an exclusive fundraiser, bringing celebrities like Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and Criminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler to the area. The event raised $500,000 for the project.
Even with the new funding, there is still another $7 million to be raised. Brake said about $3 million of that is expected to come from naming areas of the museum — including dinosaur skeletons. He hopes companies in the oil and gas industry, which so far have not committed money to the project, will also contribute. About one-third of the museum will be dedicated to the “oil and gas story.”
Dr. Philip Currie at Pipestone Creek
The museum — which will include a dinosaur bone gallery, a paleontology lab, and numerous learning facilities — is named after renowned Alberta paleontologist Philip Currie.
Currie is thrilled the project is finally coming to fruition.
“Of course, it is a pretty exciting thing,” Currie said. “The main thing for me is that the museum itself is being built, no matter what they call it.
“There are fantastic resources in terms of dinosaurs up there, slightly different in age and latitude than in Drumheller or Dinosaur Park. It really seemed appropriate that it was going to happen.”
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Currie is thrilled the project is finally coming to fruition.
“Of course, it is a pretty exciting thing,” Currie said. “The main thing for me is that the museum itself is being built, no matter what they call it.
“There are fantastic resources in terms of dinosaurs up there, slightly different in age and latitude than in Drumheller or Dinosaur Park. It really seemed appropriate that it was going to happen.”
[email protected]
for more information
Pictures of the fundraiser for Currie Dinosaur Museum
Original Edmonton Journal article
Follow-up Edmonton Journal article
Official site for the Currie Dinosaur Museum
Original Epoch Times article
Dr. Philip Currie's official page
Dr. Eva Koppelhus' official page
Official site for Danielle Aykroyd
Professional site for Danielle Aykroyd
Other press releases
Original Edmonton Journal article
Follow-up Edmonton Journal article
Official site for the Currie Dinosaur Museum
Original Epoch Times article
Dr. Philip Currie's official page
Dr. Eva Koppelhus' official page
Official site for Danielle Aykroyd
Professional site for Danielle Aykroyd
Other press releases