Introduction to Canine Nose Work® Saturdays, January 7th-February 11th 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. 6-week class - Limited to 6 dogs preregistration required Cost: $80 Help your dog rediscover his ability to follow scent to its source! This growing activity and sport is fun and any dog can do it, regardless of training and social skills. Dogs are crated between runs and work one at a time on boxes to develop consistent “hunt drive” and confidence. Prerequisite: Basic Obedience.

Parlor Manners - Basic Obedience: Sundays, January 8th-February 12th 1:00 p.m. 6-week class - Limited to 8 dogs preregistration required Cost: $100 This very popular class is back! Teach your dog the basics of companion obedience - sit, down, stay/wait, come, leash work, mouth manners, and more. We’ll work inside and outside, weather permitting. No previous training required - this is where your dog’s education starts!

Parlor Tricks and Games: Sundays, January 8th-February 12th 2:30 p.m. 6-week class - Limited to 8 dogs preregistration required Cost: $100 New class! Build teamwork with your dog as you teach popular dog tricks, such as shake, high five and roll over, and others like crawl, back up, and to walk slowly up steps - and more. We’ll use toys and learn games that will challenge and tire your dog - perfect for cold winter days when outside exercise is limited. Prerequisite: Basic Obedience.

Abrakadoodle’s It’s Time to Make Doodle About YOU-DLE!: Wednesdays, January 18th-February 22nd 3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. 6-week class preregistration required Cost: $75 We are going to experience art from the tops of our heads to the tips of our toes. We’ll learn about Israeli artist, Gil Sadeh, who creates lip, eye and nose sculptures. We’ll use Model Magic® to create a face with expression! The work of fingerprint artist, Chuck Close, will be explored while we create interesting landscapes using our hands and fingertips. Hands, feet, forearms, lips, and even hair, help us learn about a variety of artistic styles and create an interesting body of art!

Carving Fish Art Class for Children (ages 6-14): Saturday and Sunday, January 21st and 22nd 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. preregistration required Cost: $50 Young artists and craftsmen will carve a fish and turn it into a weathervane or yard art with local craftsman and instructor Bobby Bridges. Students will use a child-friendly technique using Styrofoam and vinyl siding. Children will be guided through the process according to age and skill level. Session 1 will be devoted to the carving of the fish. Session 2 will involve working with the fish finish, paint or copper patina. Dress appropriately or bring a cover-up. Let’s put the power of art into action through the creativity and imagination of young minds and hands! Parents are welcome to participate.

New! Coffee Hour BIC Speaker Series: Friday, February 3rd 10:30 a.m. Cost: FREE Former top CIA officer, Richard S. Holm, will speak about his career, showcased in his newly-released book, The Craft We Choose: My Life in the CIA. The lecture and book provide rare behind-the-scenes glimpses at the life and work of a member of our nation’s clandestine service. He details his 35 years of gathering intelligence for the United States, a career that spanned seven countries on three continents under thirteen CIA directors in the pursuit of information to protect the nation’s security. At almost every turn, Holm encountered his share of dangerous characters and situations, including two years in the jungles of Laos helping to fight the invading North Vietnamese communists and surviving a harrowing plane crash in central Africa’s Congo that burned over 35 percent of his body, nearly ending his life before turning 30. There will be a book signing opportunity after the lecture.

Cameron McIntyre Oil Landscapes Exhibit - “Time and Tide”: Friday, February 3rd 5:00 p.m. Click Here for Preview of Paintings. Cost: FREE This is McIntyre’s third one-man show at the Barrier Islands Center following his “Daybreak, Dusk and Moonlight” show in November 2008. Cameron McIntyre was born in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1968. He attended the University of South Carolina and the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., where he studied with southern realist painter, William McCullough, in 1989, and has been painting ever since then in quiet seclusion, studying, absorbing and interpreting the surrounding rural landscape. He has gained national recognition as a decoy maker and wood sculptor of primitive bird forms. His work has been in numerous shows and exhibits throughout the country and has been featured in such publications as Sporting Classics magazine, Ducks Unlimited, Decoy magazine, Hunting and Fishing Collectables magazine, as well as the Orvis catalogue and Orvis News magazine. Cameron lives his wife, Adele, and their two sons on a farm bordering Bullbeggar Creek near New Church, Virginia. The exhibit will hang through the month of February.

Sustainable Beekeeping: A Course for Beginners - Presented by the Beekeepers Guild of the Eastern Shore: Wednesdays, February 8th and 15th 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Cost: $20. Participants will learn about everything from getting your first bees to extracting your first sweet honey. Learn about the history of beekeeping, Honeybee biology and the fascinating organization that takes place within the hive of the Queen, females and males. Learn how to manipulate hives to “farm” them, how to get a beehive started and how to keep it going strong. A third class session will take place in the hive when warmer weather arrives in April.

BIC oyster roast: Saturday, February 25th beginning at 4 p.m. Incredible Silent Auction and Live music by the Chesapeake Bay Bearcats Feast on local Eastern Shore oysters and clams, pork barbeque, grilled chicken and more...all in the comfort of a heated tent. Ticket Cost: $60. $10 for bottomless wine or beer cup. Enjoy wines from Chatham Vineyards, plus beer on tap. Tickets go on sale January 10th to Barrier Islands Center members and to the general public on January 17th.

Painted Floorcloth Workshop with Miriam Riggs: Saturday, March 17th 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. preregistration required Cost: $85 Local artisan, Miriam Riggs, will be teaching another session of her popular floorcloth making class. In the four-hour workshop, students will be provided all materials and instruction to produce their own handcrafted traditional floorcovering. Floorcloths are considered the “forerunners of linoleum,” and they have been in use for centuries in American and European homes. They are extremely durable and attractive, and can be designed to suit virtually any style of décor. Miriam Riggs has been making the “hand-painted rugs” for over 25 years. She has adapted her designs for historic exhibits at the BIC and will provide stencils and patterns so that students can make their own versions of the BIC exhibit pieces or create their own unique designs. The class is intended for all levels of painting skill.

Peregrine Falcons - Live!: Saturday, March 17th 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Seating is limited Cost: FREE - Donations may be made to the Peregrine Falcon Association Falconer, Andrew Bowen, will speak about Peregrine Falcons and the fascinating sport of falconry. He will bring his captivating birds for all to see. In the late 1930s, a small group of falconers from Virginia and Maryland “discovered” a previously unknown migration of Peregrine Falcons along the east coast. These falcons appeared to prefer the barrier islands as a place to rest and feed (hunt) during their long migration south from their nesting grounds in the far north. This “race” of Peregrines was unknown to science and was given the name “tundra” Peregrine by the falconers, designating their assumed origin. The audience will learn more about the importance of the barrier islands to this special bird and how it is used in falconry. They will also learn what development proposals may threaten the future of the Peregrine.

“Easter Eggstravaganza” - Easter Celebration for Children (ages 4-12): Sunday, March 18th 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. preregistration required Cost: $20 Join the BIC staff and Abrakadoodle to roll in Easter with “eggciting” activities. Children will make Easter egg batiks, decorate eggs and Easter baskets, as well as have a parade and an egg hunt. Class size is limited to 20 participants.

BIC Speaker Series : Paul Ewell Working the Water: Dugout Canoes to Carolina Skiffs and Everything in Between! Thursday, March 22nd 7:00 p.m. Cost: FREE In this presentation, Dr. Ewell will narrate a presentation chronicling the types of vessels used for commercial fishing purposes on the Chesapeake Bay and the seaside of the Eastern Shore of Virginia from the era of the native American dugout canoes to today's fast, virtually maintenance free fiberglass boats. Included will be a discussion of skipjacks and bugeyes, scows and skiffs, buyboats and deadrises. Numerous photos and artifacts will be available for viewing. Bio: Dr. Paul L. Ewell is a professor in the Management, Business & Economics Department at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Va. Additionally, he is a co-founder and the executive director of the Watermen's Heritage Foundation of Virginia's Eastern Shore. Ewell grew up working on the water as did the majority of his ancestors on Hunting Creek near Justisville. His researches focuses on supply chain management and logistics in the seafood industry, the watermen's history and heritage, and other watermen-related issues.