What's happening - free or at an MTA discount.

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• Upcoming events
• Newly added discount and deals
• Hotel savings

CURRENT AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Gas prices too high? Choice Hotels® would like to offer you some relief when traveling to visit friends and family this summer. Take advantage of our Choice Privileges® summer promotion and earn a FREE $50 GAS CARD! All it takes is three separate stays at Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn® or Clarion® hotels. Make sure to join the Choice Privileges rewards program—it’s easy, fast and free. Then book your stay for arrival between June 1st and August 14th at 800.258.2847 or choicehotels.com. After your third qualifying stay, you’ll earn enough points to redeem for a free $50 gas card* (See www.choicehotels.com for details).

If it's bonus points you're after, you'll earn 1,000 Choice Privileges points for every qualifying stay at MainStay Suites®, Suburban Extended Stay®, Econo Lodge® or Rodeway Inn® hotels in the U.S. between June 1st and August 14th through www.choicehotels.com. You can use your free nights at more than 5,500 locations worldwide with no blackout dates.

Take advantage of the MTA discount! Book in advance and make sure to reference both the MTA Special Rate Identification number 00800979 and your personal Choice Privileges Identification Number when making reservations.

Summer Nights at the Museum

Thursdays, July 17 and 31, 5 – 8 p.m.
MTA members and a guest get in free.

Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History for a summer night of after-hours gallery exploration, along with a special nature documentary screening and discussion with a local scientist.

Catch a NEW movie at 7 pm, and share in a discussion afterwards. On July 17, the Museum will screen Island of the Great White Shark, a stunning new 43-minute movie that captures the magnificent white sharks off the island of Guadalupe, Mexico, and the ongoing scientific research and conservation efforts taking place there. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Dr. John Mandelman, resident shark biologist/research scientist from the New England Aquarium’s Research Department. Mandelman will discuss the conservation of sharks (both in New England waters and in general), and his personal experiences working with these amazing creatures.

On July 31, at 7 pm, the Museum will screen Battle to Save the Tiger. Can the Bengal tiger come back from the brink of extinction again? Narrated by David Attenborough, this NEW 48-minute BBC documentary looks at the controversy surrounding tigers of India’s protected reserves – and why there are fewer today than when the government launched efforts to protect them 35 years ago. Followed by a discussion with John Linehan, Executive Director of Zoo New England, who will address how local zoos are helping combat the exploitation of exotic endangered animals and the illegal pet trade.

Explore the galleries until 8 pm. Find the Bengal and Mongolian tigers and sharks among the hundreds of animals from all over the world in the museum's 19th century galleries. See live scorpions or giant millipedes in the new Arthropods: Creatures that Rule gallery (an arthropod is a creature with a hinged body and outside, or exoskeletons – creatures that make up 80 percent of all the species on the planet, from summer favorite lobsters to the hundreds of thousands of species of insects.

Touch meteorites from outer space. See the museum's new exhibit, Sea Creatures in Glass -- amazingly realistic marine animals such as jellies, octopus, anemones, all crafted in glass in the late 19th century by the same extraordinary glass artists who created Harvard's world famous 'Glass Flowers'.

Harvard Museum of Natural History
26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Red Line MBTA to Harvard Square
For more information, call 617.495.3045, or visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

A big hit with fans

25 Main St., Cooperstown, New York

The National Baseball Hall of Fame features 286 members, including 2008 inductees Barney Dreyfuss, Rich "Goose" Gossage, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O'Malley, Billy Southworth and Dick Williams. Included are 199 former Major League players (including Red Sox player Carlton Fiske, shown at left) 35 Negro Leaguers, 26 executives or pioneers, 18 managers, and 8 umpires. The Baseball Writers' Association of America has elected 106 former players to the Hall of Fame, while the Hall of Fame Committee on Baseball Veterans has elected 153 candidates (92 Major Leaguers, 26 pioneers/executives, 18 managers, nine Negro Leaguers, and 8 umpires). The defunct Committee on Negro Leagues selected nine members between 1971-1977. The Hall of Fame currently has 64 living members. See these celebrities and enjoy special events sponsored by the museum. MTA members receive a $1.50 discount. For information, call 607.547.7200 or visit www.baseballhalloffame.org.

Plan for the summer ahead with this eclectic array of great plays – all at a 5% MTA member discount. Click here to learn more about the Berkshire Theater Festival and other happenings.

Candida – June 20 through July 5 Previews: June 17, 18,19

Set in London’s East End during the Victorian era, Candida is about the domestic turmoil that ensues when a dashing and sensitive young poet comes between a socially progressive minister and his charismatic wife.

The Book Club Play – July 11 through July 19
Previews: July 8, 9, 10

This hilarious and heartbreaking play is about people who read books, people who say they read books, and people who prefer books to other people. The play examines the popular phenomena of book clubs: the intricate rules, the intricate friendships and the intricate need for food.

A Man for All Seasons – July 25 through August 9
Previews: July 22, 23, 24

Robert Bolt’s stirring drama explores the uneasy interplay of church and state during the reign of King Henry VIII. The play is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, a revered scholar, lawyer and churchman, whose eloquence and endurance in the face of escalating threats to his beliefs and family make him one of modern drama’s greatest tragic heroes.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – August 15 through September 6 Previews: August 12, 13, 14

This is one of legendary playwright Edward Albee’s great successes, a scathing, scalding, revealing and wickedly funny drama – one of the great plays of American theatre.

• Pick up your Killer Instincts Passport at the Information Desk.
• Follow the Killer Instincts Path throughout the Aquarium and stamp your passport while you uncover the truth about the shark, stingray, barracuda and more.
• Get up close and personal with some feared creatures during our live animal presentations.
• See the larger-than-life shark video projected along our High-Definition Wall.
• Check out some prehistoric ocean killers at the Simons IMAX Theatre.

MTA members can now use their membership card to save $15 off a purchase of $75 or more at J. Jill! The discount applies to purchases made online and in stores, including outlets, throughout Massachusetts. For online purchases be sure to use code MTAB15 to receive the MTA discount.

Learn what it’s like to work with the Northern fur seals and harbor seals at the New England Aquarium. Reservations are required. Please call 617.973.5206.

Travel and adventure

Look at the Discount Directory for everything from NEW MTA Vacations to places to ski – all at great MTA discounts.

Heating homes with a hybrid system, an easier way to make a will, and screenings to prevent strokes and fractures are discussed in an article on new Discount Directory programs offered to MTA members – at exclusive savings. Read all about them.

The Tip Sheet presents different ideas for things to do and places to go – all at MTA member savings. Learn more.

An online exhibition now appearing at www.mos.org

Learn about this Renaissance genius who was a scientist, inventor and artist in a series of online presentations by the Boston Museum of Science. Check out a QuickTime time-lapse movie of the exhibit being built or navigate parts of the exhibit using QuickTime VR. You’ll be dazzled by the man and his masterpieces. For more information, go to www.mos.org.

The singing wait staff provides an evening of entertainment for you at the Starline Room Dinner Theater with musical reviews that include top show tunes from Broadway and other venues. MTA members receive $5 off the show cost with the purchase of dinner. For reservations, call 781.297.SHOW (7469).

Take family and friends on Boston Duck Tours, a wacky and wonderful way to see the city.

Plymouth, Mass. - open year round
and free to members

Come aboard and learn about the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower, the perils of maritime travel and the tools of 17th-century navigation. You may meet role players in period costumes who will share their personal accounts of shipboard life, playing the part of Mayflower passengers (popularly known as the “Pilgrims”) or sailors. Call 508.830.6021 or visit www.plimoth.org.

You can save up to thousands of dollars a year by taking advantage of deals in the Discount Directory. Here are some examples:

Get in free or at deep discounts at
museums throughout New England.

Brooks Brothers offers a 15% discount on regular and everday value-priced merchandise.

The London Harness Company, established in 1776, offers a 10% discount on purchases of $100 or more.

Get 10% off retail prices on all computers, hardware, software and 10% off Web design, training, home networking and computer rentals at the Computer Cafe.

Shop for women's clothes and accessories at dozens of places offering an MTA discount.

The MTA 2007 - 2008 Hotel Discount Directory lists a wonderful array of places that give you a special MTA member discount of 5% to 25%.

Imagine your getaways at places like this:

• A delightful inn – winner of Cape Cod Magazine’s 2005 and 2006 “Best of Upper Cape Cod” – that is located on Falmouth Harbor, within walking distance of ferries, beaches, restaurants and shops.

  

• A luxury inn, secluded in the heart of a 33-acre estate in Petersham, Mass., with a relaxed ambiance, gourmet food, summer gardens, fall foliage and more.
• A charming Rhode Island B&B owned by a retired English teacher that offers guests a private sanctuary away from crowds in summer and hearth cooking lessons in winter.
• An intimate country getaway in the Mount Snow Valley of southern Vermont with Murder Mystery Weekends throughout the year for those who dare!
• A restored Vermont farmhouse, designed to rekindle all your happy vacation memories, located near Okemo Mountain Resort, a favorite ski destination.

For a copy of the new Hotel Discount Directory, call MTAB at 800.336.0990, ext. 5226 or click here. Check it out before you check in.

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Norwood, MA 02062
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