Ballroom Visitors 2023
During the track work in the summer of 2023 many hundreds of visitors came to enjoy the spectacular number and variety of tracks that were
clean and dry (or being cleaned) at the Ballroom. The visitors came from all parts of Texas and other states, and even several foreign countries, often as a result of seeing
news reports, many of which announced that the severe drought had "revealed many new tracks", even though most new (and previously known) tracks
were only made readily visible through the long, hard work of the track workers and volunteers. Many visitors had been to the park before, but had no idea that
so many tracks existed at this site or others being worked on. To help visitors understand the various tracks and interesting features at the Ballroom, I put
down many small signs on the track bed, identifying basic tracks and trails (theropod, adult and juvenile sauropod, "baby" tracks) and likely trackmakers,
as well as features such as the "squiggles" and overlapping tracks. Many still had many questions (or missed some of the signs), including
"How did the tracks get preserved," and "How did they last for millions of years in the riverbed?" and "How do you know where to look for new tracks?"
Although I and other track workers enjoyed helping them with such features and guiding them to various tracks, I also put together a summary sheet on
the site to show visitors at the park office, which gift shop manager Paul Baker and local print shop owner Gabe Campos graciously turned into a waterproof 2 x 3 ft poster, and
installed at the top of the final steps to the site, which many visitors seemed to appreciate. Especially gratifying was watching all the families and
youngsters enjoying the astounding number and variety of tracks. Among the enthusiastic visitors one morning were three classes of third graders on
class field trips. It was a fun challenge to summarize the major points about the tracks and trackmakers on a third grade level, esecially in the short
time (about 15-20 minutes) each class had available, but all seemed to enjoy the experience.
For photos of Ballroom photos from previous years, see:
http://paleo.cc/paluxy/ballroom/Ballroom Menu.htm
All photos (C) 2023 Glen J. Kuban unless otherwise indicated
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