[Bristol-Birds] Historical Snippet - Sept 10, 1977
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:45:11 -0500
BBC Snippet
(left to right) Bob Burleson, Mary Fern Behrend, Linda Behrend Akard
and children, Dr. Lee R. Herndon and Frank
Robinson.
It was especially fitting that the dedication of Bear Wallow Trail in Roan
Mountain State Park to the memory of the great mountain naturalist,
Fred W. Behrend (1896-1976) took place Saturday, Sept. 10, 1977 at
the Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally.
Freddie, as many of his friends knew him, created the rally in Sept 1963.
The rally has thrived for 45 years.
This snippet is not about Fred Behrend, it is about the history of how the Bear
Wallow Trail dedication and memorial marker came about.
It is important to at least say he was not only recognized as the expert about
natural history of Roan Mountain but, along with Stephen M. Russell, he
discovered and charted the migration flight lanes of hawks in the Southern
Appalachians, including the Mendota hawk watching location.
Along with his wife, Mary Fern, they were charter members of the Elizabethton
Bird Study Club, organized in February 1944, which, shortly thereafter became
the Elizabethton bird club we know today.
Fred was a hiker beyond compare. If memory does not fail us, he went
hiking alone on Lynn Mountain near Elizabethton and suffered a stroke on the
afternoon of June 12, 1976. It took awhile to find him and, after being
hospitalized for more than two months, died on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1976.
Two weeks later on Wednesday,
Sept 6, 1976, Charles R. Smith at
Cornell University wrote Dr. Lee R.
Herndon at Elizabethton stating that
he had an idea he wanted to share
with Herndon and the Elizabethton
Chapter of TOS. Smith said that
Bill Bridgforth (today a Johnson City
physician) had suggested that it
might be possible to rename one of
the mountain tops along the
Tennessee-North Carolina line in
Fred's honor. Round Bald
seemed like a logical choice. He
wrote Herndon that he had talked
with Wallace Coffey and he agreed
this might be possible if several
groups worked together. He said
Ken Dubke of Chattanooga had
similar thoughts.
In addition, Smith suggested that
it would be nice to have a granite
bolder (or similar stone) put in place
with a bronze plaque attached as
Dr. Charles R. Smith an additional memorial
marker.
On Sept 30, 1976, Dr. Herndon wrote Smith and said it was good to have
his proposal for a memorial for Fred Behrend.
He said that at the first Elizabethton TOS Chapter meeting following Behrend's
death the club considered a memorial. A committee of Dr. Gary Wallace,
Glen Eller and Dr. Herndon had been appointed since they had been in charge
of the naturalist rally.
They had talked with Frank Robinson, owner and publisher of the Elizabethton
Star newspaper where Behrend had worked for so many years. Robinson
discouraged renaming anything with a long standing geographical name due
to eventual confusion and the need for legislative approval required from two
states. A plaque or marker in such a remote area would be vandalized. They
had talked about possibly naming a new nature trail which was being created
in Sycamore Shoals State Park.
They thought Bear Wallow trail, which began and ended in Roan Mountain
State Park, seemed more suitable. However, it already had a name. They
talked with State Representative Bob Burleson who lived at the community
of Roan Mountain and asked what he thought about dedicating that trail to
the memory of Behrend. Burleson liked the idea very much. He offered to
get a bill passed in the Tennessee state legislature.
A Nature Conservancy representative wanted to present a proposal at the
Naturalist Rally that year which would entail the purchase of 12,000 acres
of land along the Appalachia Trail and running from Carver's Gap to Elk
Park, costing $6 million. Ten thousand acres would be dedicated in
Behrend's name. The advisory board declined to allow such a proposal
to be presented at the Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally because they were
unsure about their capabilities with such a large project and Behrend had
always frowned on big money raising ventures.
The group had decided they wanted a stone moved from somewhere in
the Roan Mountain area to the Bear Wallow trailhead in the park. A
suitable bonze plaque would cost $100. The stone could be moved for about
the same amount of money. All of this would be more secure in the park
and less exposed to vandalism.
A year later, on Aug 3, 1977, Dr. Herndon reported that the legislature had
passed a resolution permitting the dedication of Bear Wallow Trail to the
memory of Behrend. This was required because it was in a state park.
A 12 inch by 24 inch bronze plaque had been ordered and delivered. Jim
Potter, a local community leader who took over working with the
rally, joined Gary Wallace and Herndon and took a tour of the area to find
a suitable stone, an oval river rock, which weighed about 5,000 pounds.
Dr. Gary Wallace agreed to be the treasurer for donations.
Dedication was set for Saturday, Sept 10, 1977, at the Roan Mountain
Naturalist Rally. A nice gathering was on hand.
On Aug 24, 1977, just two weeks before the dedication, Charlie
Smith accepted the position of Assistant Director of the prestigious
Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University. One week later he
had his doctorate degree conferred upon him from Cornell.
Behrend had been a mentor to Dr. Smith and Wallace Coffey since they
were teenagers. They certainly hoped Freddie Behrend approved.
Maybe he was looking down on Bear Wallow Trail that Saturday in
September.
Maybe he reads BBC Snippets :-)
from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club
Other related posts:
- » [Bristol-Birds] Historical Snippet - Sept 10, 1977
