[Bristol-Birds] Re: 28 BBCmembers meet Elizabeth Oakley, appoint conservation chair

Wallace,

Kudos to Elizabeth for her keen observation and identification of such a rare 
bird meriting receipt of the Dr. Lee Herndon Mentor Award, and to Michele as an 
inspirational example for our youth to emulate.

Thank you for the privilege and honor of presenting to so many esteemed 
prominent colleagues and guests of the BBC, and for your kind introduction. 
Dinner before hand at the Mad Greek was terrific. The gracious hospitality 
afforded my wife and I by ALL BBC members will not soon be forgotten. Special 
thanks to Larry McDaniel for extending the invitation to speak and its 
coordination, and to Rees and Kathy Shearer and Doug and Kay Ogle for their 
friendship and traveling a great distance to support me. Most of all I'd like 
to thank my lovely wife, Pam, for her tolerance and support of the many many 
hours I spend hiking the mountains and hollers of SW VA and NE TN photographing 
the abounding natural beauty we are blessed with. 

Richard
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wallace Coffey 
  To: Bristol-birds 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:57 PM
  Subject: [Bristol-Birds] 28 BBCmembers meet Elizabeth Oakley, appoint 
conservation chair


  Twenty-eight members of the Bristol Bird Club were on hand for 
  the club's July 21 meeting at the Bristol Public Library. Ten were
  on hand for dinner at the Mad
  Greek Restaurant.  It was an
  evening when the management
  tuned the TV above our reserved
  table to WCYB-TV5 where we
  saw the 6 p.m. news feature
  about 8-year-old Elizabeth Oakley,
  who has won a place in our hearts,
  having discovered the rare
  White Ibis in here yard.  It came
  on the heels of attending a BBC/
  Bristol Public Library children's
  summer program on bird study and birdwatching.  It was conducted
  by BBC member Michele Sparks, a fifth-grade teacher in the 
  Sullivan County School System and the "2008 Region Birder of the
  Year."   

  Above, Elizabeth is introduced to club members when she attended
  tonight's BBC meeting and was awarded the "Bristol Bird Club
  Dr. Lee R. Herndon Mentor Award" which was in the form of her
  own, new, copy of Charles Sibley's eastern bird field guide.  She
  was accompanied to the meeting by her mother, Ann Oakley.

  With a unanimous vote of approval, the BBC members decided to
  create a conservation committee to be chaired by Ron Harrington with 
  members appointed later. As planned, it would be known as the
  "BBC Conservation Policy Committee." The vote came
  on a motion by former president Bill Grigsby and a second by 
  former president Larry McDaniel.  

  Ron will represent the BBC and the 200-member Overmountain 
  Trout Unlimited Chapter out of Johnson City at the semi-annual 
  TVA Coldwater meeting in Knoxville, July 25. That same day he 
  will also make a presentation to both the TVA meeting and the 
  Tennessee Council, Trout Unlimited.   Ron has been asked to 
  present a summary of the Shady Valley watershed issues to
  the state council and also to the TVA meeting. There are usually 
  folks from other TU chapters, TDEC, TU National, TWRA, 
  TVA, GSMNP, and the U.S. Forest Service in attendance.

  President Lisa Tyler announced plans for a 30-year celebration
  of the Bristol Bird Club's involvement with The Nature Conservancy
  in Shady Valley, dating to the Aug 1979 creation of the cranberry
  bog now managed by ETSU.  She said there would be public
  field trips held from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and again at 5 p.m. at the
  TNC preservers.  The event will be held Saturday, Aug 8th and
  the main station will be at the sandstone house in Orchard Bog.

  Rees Shearer announced a literary event for the upcoming
  Virginia Highlands Festival which will feature a A Panel on Publishing
  "Publishing: Voices of Experience" by by Carl Clarke (moderator), 
  Lida Quillen, and Kathy Shearer (morning and afternoon) and will 
  discuss the fundamentals of self-publishing.   The fee for the day
  (Mon, July 27) is $25. Attendees may register in advance, or they 
  can register at the door on the day of the event. For detailed 
  information on the day's events, contact Phil Ferguson 
  (276-628-3309).

  Richard Kretz of the Russell County Bird Club presented an excellent
  PowerPoint program of his photos and the natural history of the
  Pinnacles Natural Area Preserve and the Clinch Valley Bioreserve
  on Big Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Clinch River in Russell County.
  His photography was gorgeous and his talk carefully organized and
  presented.

  Attended the meeting were:  Pamela Wilson, Michele Villenenue,
  Aubrie Abernethy, John Hay, Elizabeth Oakley, Michele Sparks,
  Ann Oakley, Mary Erwin, Larry McDaniel, Joseph Kun, Earlene Kun,
  Roy Knispel, Charles Powell, Wilma Boy, Lois Ann Cox, Judy Roach,
  Bill Grigsby, Rick Knight, Wallace Coffey, Carolyn Coffey, Doug Ogle,
  Key Ogle, Kathy Shearer, Reese Shearer, Richard Kretz, Ruth Clark
  and Mary Clark.

  Let's go birding . . . .

  Wallace Coffey
  Bristol, TN

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