Morden's Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre may still be one of the best kept secrets in the province or even Canada in terms of its fossil and marine reptile collection, but some new creative marketing may help to change all that.

One of the marketing techniques will target children.

Soon your children may be singing catchy songs that teach what you can see and do at the CFDC.

Four songs about fossils and marine reptiles are being created by well-known children's entertainers “Lulu and the Tomcat,” a.k.a. Tom and Lori Neufeld.

The special marketing songs are one of the benefits to the Museum, in connection with Morden's Cultural Capital of Canada project “Chautauqua Spirit.”

The CFDC is developing strategies for cultural tourism, marketing and promotion to help them now and in the future.

Interest in fossils can do much to interest young people in natural history and museums, and the CFDC feels attractive music will be a major step in marketing the museum to both young and old alike.

And who better to put the CFDC to music than the musical duo from Roland who have made a name for themselves on the international music scene as “Lulu and the Tom Cat.”

They have represented Canada in Japan, toured Cuba, and twice been named winners of the award for “Best Children's Album in Western Canada.”

“We have fun doing what we do,” said Tom.

“And we have fulfilled many of our goals,” added Lori.

Tom and Lori Neufeld released their first CD in 1997 titled “Stuff Dreams are Made Of.”

Since then they have produced two more albums as Tom and Lori and are currently working on their fourth children's album.

“We still do our own stuff, but the family entertainment has really had momentum the last number of years,” said Tom.

“It's been an amazing journey,” said Lori. “To see how far we have come and what we have accomplished.”

Education plays a big role in what we do, noted Tom.

Lori is still involved in education as a Grade Three teacher in Winnipeg.

“I think education is the undercurrent in what we do,” said Tom. “But we try to have both elements in our music, learning while having fun.”

CFDC approached Tom and Lori with the idea of composing the songs for Morden's Chautauqua Spirit project last summer while the duo was touring in B.C.

“It seemed like this was the project we were waiting for all along,” said Lori.

“When I was a child I collected fossils,” she noted. ‘I lived near the Humber River in Quebec and would collect fossils out of the river bed, while Tom collected rocks and still does. “

So how do you write songs about something so ancient and pre-historic?

“It's incredibly easy and difficult,” stated Tom. “Some of the ideas flowed out faster than ink out of the pen; others required some hard thinking and research.”

Tom said their research began by going out and having fun.

“We went to the museum, spent time going through and seeing what they have. It's really a world-class museum and a great resource. We picked around in there and talked to people.”

The highlight of their research was going out on a dig with museum curator Anita Janzic.

“We spent the afternoon in the Pembina Hills on our hands and knees, shoveling and picking in the dirt,” explained Lori. We had a great day and even found treasures.”

It was on the way home from the dig that the first song was created.

“Do the Dig” is one of the four songs “Lulu and the Tomcat” have written for the CFDC. It is an action song about how to go about a dig.

Tom noted their research required more than just one visit to the museum. He said they would go home to write and have more questions, so they would go back for more information.

The next song also comes out of the duo's experience on the dig that day. It is a mysterious sounding song called “Pembina Diamond Mine” and talks about the things out in the field and drawing the connection between treasures underground.

“What they call the ‘Pembina diamond' is really a form of crystal and it's beautiful,” said Lori. “The hills are brimming with treasures.”

Both Tom and Lori had been to the museum before, but this time they needed to go behind the scenes and make it real.

After seeing the life size model of “Bruce” the mosasaur, they decided to create an imaginative story about Bruce that would bring the bones to life. The song titled “Bruce” depicts the large “sea monster like” creature as a friendly animal.

The final song, “I Want to be a Plesiosaur” was written in the middle of a deep blue-green body of water while Tom was kayaking and Lori was swimming beside him.

“We were in the middle of the lake and were trying to think like a plesiosaur and where they would go, what they would do. Then we went back to shore and wrote down notes,” said Lori.

Plesiosaurs have paddles and can also swim deeper and have adventures in deep water, noted Tom.

Each of the four songs is geared towards a different age group. For the younger kids, the songs have actions and facts that make sense. They are interesting, but not scary.

“Lulu and the Tomcat” like to involve kids in the whole process and want kids to have fun and join in with actions and singing.

Four young girls from Morden have been joining “Lulu and the Tomcat” in their studio as backup singers on a number of occasions. The “kiddens,” as they are called are Samantha Matychuk, Salina and Shayna Wall and Madison Jamieson.
“All four girls are fluent in French and English and are enthusiastic, talented singers,” said Lori.

“Lulu and the Tomcat” will be launching their fossil songs at a concert in September during the Chautauqua Spirit Celebration. In fact, the duo will likely be releasing a whole album on the theme of fossils and marine reptiles. After researching for the four songs, they had more than enough material and kept writing. The fossil and marine reptile CD will be “Lulu and the Tomcat's fourth children's album.

Tom and his “kidden” helpers also will be performing a sampling of the songs at the Morden Area Foundation Luncheon March 20.