MARION – The Marion Natural History Museum and Elizabeth Taber Library celebrated their Summer Kickoff and 150-year anniversary on Saturday, June 25 with an event that was out of this world.

The event also celebrated the arrival of a 700-pound meteorite from Harvard’s collection. The meteorite’s loan was organized by Marion residents Ted and Elizabeth Brainard.

The Brainards first met during geology class in Harvard, and it has been their vision to bring the meteorite to Marion “for several years,” said Karen Alves, president of the Marion Natural History museum.

The Coahuila meteorite is named for the place it was found in 1837, in Coahuila, Mexico. The piece on display in Marion is a fragment of a larger meteorite. One can only imagine how much it all weighed when it was in one piece.

The museum needed the help of Burr Brothers Boats forklift in order to transport the meteorite to its display. At first glance, the rock isn’t too much bigger than a toaster and doesn’t appear to weigh 700 pounds, but “it’s very concentrated,” said Alves.

Alves said the museum would have the meteorite for “at least three years,” though its tenure in Marion could be even longer.

In addition to the museum’s new display, the festivities included a splash pool, rock climbing wall from Carabiner’s, and the Oxcart Creamery ice cream truck.

Readers could pick up their summer reading guides from the Elizabeth Taber library, which included schedules of summer programs and spots to mark off completed books and reading time for the chance to win prizes, for both kids and adults.

The museum also hosted activities where kids could look at rocks up close under a microscope, and construct their own paper towel tube rocket ships that could be launched down a makeshift zipline.