For Immediate Release Contact: Pat Kremer/Nancy O’Shea (312) 665-7100 (For Media Use Only) You're Invited to Really Big Birthday Bash! Join Us in Wishing T. Rex Sue a Happy Birthday Where does a 42-foot Tyrannosaurus rex celebrate her birthday? Anywhere she wants! And we’re happy to announce that Sue has chosen to celebrate her fifth birthday with four days of festivities at The Field Museum, May 14-17, 2005. Why do we say 5 years and not, oh, 67 million years? Sue’s not shy about her age. But it was on May 17, 2000, that her restored skeleton went on display at The Field, along with an exhibition about the world’s largest, most complete, and best preserved T. rex. And besides, where in the world would we get 67 million candles? A Free Day to Get Down and Party In special celebration of Sue’s Big Day, May 17 will be a day of free admission to The Field Museum, with a special bonus—a free Sue kite—to the first 50 young visitors ages 3 to 11. (Additional kites will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.) We’ve invited a famous singer to serenade Sue with “Happy Birthday” and a Field Museum paleontologist to chat with guests. And what would a birthday party be without a birthday cake? In fact, there will be six cakes, prepared by pastry chefs from some of Chicago’s best known restaurants and catering services. The cakes will be on display the morning of May 17, and visitors will be invited to vote for the most imaginative. We’ll award a blue ribbon to the winner—then, at 11 a.m., it’s free cake for all! Meet the Sue behind Our Sue Of course, the real stars of the four-day celebration are Sue…and Sue. Visitors will have an opportunity to meet the party’s guest of honor, Sue Hendrickson, the discoverer and namesake of the amazing dino. She’ll be here to greet visitors, sign autographs, and pose for your cameras all four days between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sue Hendrickson is a self-taught fossil hunter, marine archeologist, and explorer—a real-life Indiana Jones. (Born in Chicago, she grew up in Munster, Indiana.) She’s unearthed fossil whales in the desert of Peru, found 23-million-year-old butterflies trapped in amber, dived for rare conch pearls in the Caribbean, discovered ancient Egyptian treasures in the waters near Alexandria, and salvaged Chinese porcelain from a 400-year old sunken Spanish galleon. It was Sue’s keen awareness of her surroundings that led to her discovery of the giant T. rex in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1990. Sue is our very own link to the Age of Dinosaurs. And did we mention? She loves talking to kids. Continue