Following my post to VA-Birds yesterday (Subject: Brown Thrasher, Lynchburg;
VSO annual meeting)I received a question about the registration fee for the
VSO annual meeting to be held in Lynchburg on April 30-May 2, and believe
that a clarification is needed.
In order to participate in the scheduled field trips, which are one of the
primary activities of the meeting, it is necessary to register for the
annual meeting by paying the registration fee when you send in a
registration form
(http://vsoeditors.home.comcast.net/Meeting_Registration.htm#Meeting_Registr
ation
<http://vsoeditors.home.comcast.net/Meeting_Registration.htm#Meeting_Registr
ation> ). This is true even if you are not planning to go to some of the
other activities, such as the paper session, or the banquet (which has a
separate charge).
The confusion has arisen because in the VSO newsletter it states
(http://vsoeditors.home.comcast.net/Meeting.htm#Meeting
<http://vsoeditors.home.comcast.net/Meeting.htm#Meeting> ) that the field
trips are "free". That statement was made because for some of the field
trip sites, such as Poplar Forest and Appomattox, there is a fee to visit
the historic buildings at the site, and we pointed that out in the
newsletter. But we were indicating that for our birding on the grounds,
there will not be an additional fee beyond the VSO registration fee.
However, it is necessary to limit field trip attendance to those registered
for the meeting because the number of participants on each field trip, as is
true each year, must be limited in order to preserve the quality of the
experience for participants. And it would be unfair to paid registrants if
they were excluded from attending particular field trips because there was
not space available, due to non-paid individuals attending. As is true each
year, sign up for field trips will be on a first-come, first-served basis,
with sign up done at the registration area of the Ramada Inn. (As an aside,
a large part of the registration fee is to cover the cost of our special
banquet speaker, Ian Sinclair, who we are fortunate enough to have come from
Africa specifically for this historic 75th anniversary meeting of the VSO.)
And again, as is always the case at the VSO annual meeting, non-VSO members
are very welcome and invited to register for the meeting and join us. We
think you'll have a great time, and would love to see you there. Also,
anyone is invited to attend only the other activities and not the banquet,
or only the banquet Saturday evening, again by filling out a registration
form at the above links and paying the appropriate fee. The registration
deadline is April 10th. Hotel reservations should be made directly with the
Ramada Inn, asking for the VSO room rate.
So we hope to see many of you here in Lynchburg April 30-May 2 to enjoy
spring migration in full swing, to get together with old acquaintances and
make new ones, and to maybe visit some of the historic sites in the area
while you're here as well.
Gene Sattler, President
Lynchburg Bird Club
P.S. "My" male Brown Thrasher has just returned to our yard, as I heard,
then spotted it, singing from the top of the large oak tree in our front
yard this morning as I returned from my morning walk with the dog.
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