[Bristol-Birds] Michele Sparks named 2008 Birder of the Year




MICHELE SPARKS NAMED BBC
'2008 Birder of the Year'

Michele Sparks of Bristol was announced Saturday night as the region's '2008 
Birder 
of the Year' at the annual BBC Christmas party.

Her sudden visibility on the scene of birding in Northeast Tennessee 
came from a rush of volunteering to take on tough challenges
and her tenacious durability on virtually every Christmas bird count in
NET last winter.  She is a 5th grade teacher in the Sullivan County
School System and sponsors her school's science club.  Michele eagerly
took hold of a complex and challenging job of red tape, phone calls and
digging through a mountain of paper to acquire the important ISBN
number and Library of Congress number for Rick Knight's Birds of 
Northeast Tennessee, second edition.   She helped raised funds for the
book.  Her talented photography resulted in several bird photos in this 
edition.  She
worked with the finances and helped manage distribution of the second edition.

Michele saw to it that every school in Sullivan County, TN received a copy of 
the book for their school
library, including elementary, middle and high schools for the county and two 
city school systems.

Early in the publication process for the book, she volunteered her home as a 
work place and meeting place for the publication committee.  This included 
cookouts on her deck and hosting the team several times.  Many meetings lasted 
four and five hours.

Saturday night she hosted the Bristol Bird Club's annual regional Christmas 
party for birders at her
home.  It was a wonderful and beautiful evening.

She managed to attend field trips over the region, including trips to Rankin 
Bottom and to the Breaks
area with the Buchanan County Bird Club.  She assisted with BBC bird walks at 
Natural Tunnel State Park and stayed there with our team for the weekend.

This fall she attended the Annual Fall Meeting of the Tennessee Ornithological 
Society at Chattanooga
and represented BBC on the state board of directors.

She works hard at birding and is neither shy nor hesitant to bird alone. One of 
the her goals for 2009 is to study harder and work harder at knowing more about 
birds.

The Bristol Bird Club proudly recognizes Michele for her many efforts on behalf 
of birding.

Michele becomes the fourteenth annual recipient of the award which was first
presented by BBC in 1995.

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