Hidden tigers, martial arts and international folk dancing will be among the activities awaiting visitors to the Chinese New Year Celebration at the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia Saturday.

The event enables the museum to represent a unique way of recording time through a completely different calendar system.

"This ties in cultural time-keeping with the museum," said Katie Knaub, director of education at the museum. "Much of the display is very technical, but this event will let visitors see that time-keeping is controlled by people.

"The Chinese have such a different way of recording the year. The celebration goes very well with the current exhibit we have on the Asian incense clocks."

The celebration will honor the Year of the Tiger in Chinese culture.

"Tigers," or those born this year — and in the years 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 and 1998 — are said to be sensitive, given to deep thinking and capable of great sympathy, according to the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, a nonprofit organization that fosters understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese culture.

The Columbia museum's celebration will include a scavenger hunt where children need to find hidden tigers among the various clocks and displays throughout the museum to win a prize. Various demonstrations will be held in the building lobby and theater, highlighted by dancing and another Asian tradition: a Japanese tea display.

"We will show the traditional way of making Japanese tea. Everything is silent during the preparation and the tea is a thick liquid served in bowls the guests will be able to try," Knaub said.

"We will also have a group of youth from the Chinese Cultural and Arts Institute in Harrisburg showing off several types of folk dances in a new demonstration for us this year."

Twenty-four volunteer slots for this Chinese New Year celebration filled up in just a few weeks because of the "Give A Day, Get a Disney Day" promotion, a program that offers a free one-day ticket to a Disney theme park for guests who volunteer a day of service to a participating organizations such as the Clock Museum.

One such volunteer is Courtney Conner of Dover. "We are going to California for a wedding and wanted to take a side trip to Disneyland. All six of us who are volunteering will earn a free day at the park. I heard about this promotion on television and looked for places nearby where we could volunteer," said Conner, who will be joined by her husband, her sister, her sister's husband and their two kids.

"I think we will learn a lot and it should be a fun event to do as a family."

Knaub said volunteers will help man the various activities during the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. One such activity will be the making of tangram puzzles, with a woman highlighting the art of Chinese paper folding. Participants will be able to make one of six different animals. Another activity will be Chinese dragon boat puppets. Knaub said there is extra interest in the dragon since some of the incense clocks at the museum have similar designs.

"People can also learn what Chinese animal sign they are and the characteristics associated with it," Knaub said.

Linda Craul, her husband, their daughter and her daughter's boyfriend will volunteer for the celebration. Craul saw the promotion on the Disney Web site and jumped at the idea, especially after seeing how expensive tickets are for the Florida resort. "We do a lot of volunteering normally through our church, but this was something different to do. We have never been to the museum, so we get to see what it is all about and learn a new culture in the process," Craul said.

The Chinese New Year Celebration costs $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and $4 for children 6 and older. Younger children are admitted free. The museum is open until 4 p.m., one hour after the celebration, and activities and demonstrations will occur throughout the day.

"Our hope is this will draw people in from the community and broaden their horizon so they see there is more than watches and clocks here. Time-keeping affects everyone," Knaub said, "and they will see how different cultures keep track of time."

Readers can call 684-8261 and choose to be connected to the Museum for "Education and Programs". A recording will tell them if the event has been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13, due to snow. www.clockmuseum.com will also have the announcement posted.