Challenger Center to open, also trout fishing

The Challenger Learning Center opens this month and will be a neat place to learn about space travel.

Also, if you like the outdoors in the fall, you can try to catch trout right near your home.

Those are just a couple of the Places to Go, Things to Do during the month of November. Each month, Young Saint Louis.com picks interesting events that help you learn your community while having fun.

The Challenger Learning Center will open Nov. 17. It's located on the campus of the new McClure South-Berkeley High School in north St. Louis County.

The center will be a space education resource for families throughout the St. Louis metro area.

There will be opportunities for hands-on experience. The center has simulated space station and mission control rooms.

Tasmyn Front is the director of the new center. She said, "The center is a fabulous opportunity for kids."

The center will be open for both school groups and for the general public. You should call (314) 506-9144 for reservations. To learn more about the center, check its website at: www.clcstlouis.org.

2003 Winter Trout Program

The 2003-2004 Winter Trout Program will begin in November in 16 St. Louis area lakes.

The Missouri Department of Conservation doesn't give advance notice of the exact stocking schedule. That's so no one can camp out waiting for the stocking trucks to come to their neighborhood lakes.

But, when the stocking is completed, the MDC posts notice on a Fish Stocking Hot Line at (636) 300-9651. Also, you can ask for a St. Louis Area Winter Trout Program brochure by calling (636) 441-4554.

The brochure lists all of the lakes to be stocked with a map showing where the lakes are.

Also, YSL.com ran a short article in October, 2003, with more details and a list of the lakes. To read that article, click here.

The MDC has stocked rainbow trout in St. Louis area lakes during cold weather months since 1989. The stocking this year will continue through February, 2004.

St. Louis County parks have indoor ice skating

The indoor skating season opens in St. Louis County parks on November 1.

Indoor rinks are at three locations:

• In North County at the North County Recreation Complex, 2577 Redman Ave.
• In West County at the Greensfelder Recreation Complex in Queeny Park.
• In South County at the Kennedy Recreation Complex at 6050 Wells Ave.

There are lots of open skating times. Each complex also has special skating events during the season, which extends into March, 2004.

For information, check the Parks Department's website at www.stlouisco.com/parks. Or you can call each recreational complex: North County, (314) 355-7374; West County, (636) 391-0922, or South County, (314) 894-3089.

St. Louis Science Center events in November

The St. Louis Science Center has a variety of interesting events during November.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight, the center has a number of events which would be fun for kids and their families.

* A new Flight gallery will be installed in the underground tunnel and lower level of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium. For up-to-date information on the installation, either call (314) 289-4444 or visit the center's website at www.slsc.org.

* On Nov. 8, there will be a one-woman performance by Sandra Campbell. She will portray the life of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American pilot. The show is at 1 p.m. and free to the public.

* On Nov. 8-9, there will be an Airplane Roundup, Paper Airplane Fly-off and Community Science Day. It will be from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Sunday. Again, this is free.

* From Nov. 8, 2003-Jan. 4, 2004, Women in Aviation and Commercial Aviation exhibits will be available at the center. These exhibits are free.

Then, holiday programming at the center opens in November.

Starting on Nov. 22, "Santa vs. the Snowman" will be showing at the center's OMNIMAX Theater. This show will pit a lonely Snowman against Santa in a digital computer animation film.