Photo courtesy of Carnegie Science Center
At last years “Name Your Own Price” Day, people who brought a snowball to the science center were able to launch it into the Ohio River.

By Alyse Horn

The Carnegie Science Center is turning the cold weather into a good cause.

All visitors of the science center who make a snowball this winter, save it and bring it in on the first day of summer, Saturday, June 21, will be able to participate in “Name Your Own Price” Day by trading in their snowball for general admission to the museum.

One snowball counts for one name-your-price admission.

In addition, everyone who brings a snowball will be able to launch it into the Ohio River, weather permitting.

Brad Peroney, program development coordinator for the museum, said most people throw their snowballs into the river, but “we also have a slingshot that can launch snowballs up to 100 feet.”

Peroney said last year a child brought in a snowball that was the size of the child’s head and it had to be broken up into pieces to fit in the slingshot.

Director of Marketing and Community Affairs Susan Zimecki said this marks the eighth year the Science Center will be celebrating the Summer Solstice in this fashion.

The idea was thought of in 2007 seven by the museum as a way to kick off the first day of summer and “saving a snowball in the winter to get a summer bargain [that] made winter a little less painful,” Zimecki said.

Additionally, the museum would like to remind visitors of these “snowy facts.”

“Although it appears white, snow actually is transparent. Snow crystals act as prisms and break up the Sun’s light into the entire color spectrum. The human eye can’t handle that kind of sensory overload, so it is processed as white. If a region’s soil contains more iron, giving it a reddish tinge, snow may appear pink—wind will blow dirt and dust into the atmosphere and clouds, where the snow crystals form initially.”