Canada South Science City is hosting its 11th annual Earth Day dinner to celebrate science and the earth, and to raise money to help re-open in a new location.

Windsor’s science and technology centre is in temporary hiatus since it moved out of its previous location on Marion Avenue in 2016. The educational hands-on attractions and displays were relocated to the museum’s future home in the former Forster Secondary School building.

Bill Baylis, UWindsor physics professor emeritus and president of the centre’s board, says that although the building is not currently open to visitors, this is a great time to reorganize and raise funds.

“Science City is a registered charitable organization and the region’s science centre, with extremely strong collaboration connections to the University of Windsor,” says Dr. Baylis. “Our researchers speak at the Science Cafés, which are sponsored by the Faculty of Science. We can’t wait to get Science City back up and running with visitors.”

The centre hopes its new space will be part of a hub of more than 20 non-profit community organization in Sandwich. It expects to occupy about 40 per cent of the Forster site and will announce details once architectural plans are readied.

This year’s dinner features a former Windsorite as the keynote speaker. Baylis says Kathleen Walsh, interim executive director of Evidence for Democracy, will make a timely address because the dinner comes a week after the worldwide March for Science rallies. Walsh is a principal organizer of the event in Ottawa.

“Science is essential for a civilized society, but its lessons are often ignored or even attacked, and its progress, stymied,” says Baylis. “The motto of Kathleen’s organization is ‘standing up for science and smart decision making in Canada’ and with scientists from around the world marching for science on Earth Day this year, we are fortunate to have a march organizer give her talk, Science as a Way of Thinking, the following week.”

The Earth Day dinner is on Friday, April 28, at the St. Clair College Centre for the Arts, 201 Riverside Drive West. Tickets are $50 for adults and $30 for children aged 5 to 12 and are available online at windsor.snapd.com.

This year’s events will include a display of winning entries in a poetry and poster contest for students enrolled in grades four to 12, sponsored by the Faculty of Education. For further information, visit the Canada South Science City website, e-mail info@cssciencecity.com or phone 519-980-2431.