If you've heard of pumpkin chuckin', a Three Lakes school will be the site of an apple chuckin' event today (9/28) as a prelude to the school's homecoming.
Pumpkin chuckin' finds the fruit placed in a catapult and tossed as far as it can go. The Three Lakes version will have apples instead. The Demmer Library is sponsoring the event at the Three Lakes Elementary School playground area from 3:30-5:00 p.m.
The library's April Lammert explains..
"...We were looking for programs for the 6-12 grade kids to do around this time of year. My fiance happens to have made a homemade trebuchet that sits in our backyard. I thought, 'what a great thing, STEM related, still fun and irreverant, to bring to a program..."
The 'stem' Lammert was referring to was not an apple stem, but rather Science, technolgoy, engineering and math studies, referred to as STEM. As a footnote, a trebuchet is another name for a catapult.
She says they will show the students the different physics involved, and other educational areas...
"....You have to have a certain counterweight. There's a nail in the back, at least for the trebuchets that needs to be placed a certain way to let go of the rope and throwing arm in such a way to propel it forward, not just up. So there's definately some STEM aspect in it..."
Lammert says a local resident has a pumpkin chucker, so there will be both apples and pumpkins flying this afternoon. Students ages 12-18 are invited to participate. Contact the Demmer Libary for more information.
