OFF THE BEATEN PATH

OFF THE BEAT= EN PATH
Friends of Dunbar Cave Newsletter	august 2007

OFF THE BEAT= EN PATH

Friends of Dunbar Cave Newsletter

august 2007

UPCOMING MEETING:

THURSDAY AUGUST 16^TH, AT 6:00M, <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">DUNBAR CAVE STATE NATURAL AREA VISITOR CENTER. GUEST SPEAK= ER AT 7PM:

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SPEAKER INFORMATION:

Ms. LinnAnn Welch, Tennessee State Parks Board of Director's Vice President, will be the Frie= nds of Dunbar Cave July 19th, guest speaker.

LinnAnn is the state-wide biologist for Tennessee State Parks. She is the chairman of the Iris Fu= nd License Plate Program and the coordinator for the Tennessee State Parks All= Taxa Biodiversity Inventory.

LinnAnn is an ex-o= fficio board member Tennessee Environmental Education Association for Project Archaeology and a founder of Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy.

Her presentation will begin at 7:00pm in the Audio-Visu= al room at the Dunbar Cave Visitor's Center.&= nbsp; She will be speaking on the value of flora and = fawna in the parks along with the history and biological aspects of both. Ms. Welch will= answers questions upon completing her presentation.

The publi= c is invited to attend without fee.

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Friends,

In the mont= h of July the Friends group sponsored Cooling at the Cave. What a resoundi= ng success! I could not have imagined that 100 chairs were not enough.&n= bsp; Thank you all who participated and attended. I really hope that this becomes an annual event for those in Clarksville who are keenly interested in Dunbar Cave as a meeting place. It was a fun time and it felt so “right” to be Cool at the Cave on a hot summer day.

We ha= ve applied for a $4000 grant from the state, thanks to an endorsement from Cur= tis Johnson. If we get this grant we will be able to fund an audio-visual display which will eventually become part of the Interpretive Center= . Thank you Shirley for setting this up!

This month’s business meeting we will briefly go over some things we learn= ed about Cooling at the Cave. This discussion should help us with next year’s planning. We will also discuss Haunting History which comes up October 26^th and 27^th. We have a director, we h= ave a script, we have actors, and now we need a few volunteers (that’s yo= u!) to help out.

Finally, af= ter the business meeting, look forward to hearing the biologist LinnAnn Welch speak about the archaeology and plant life of the Dunbar Cave area.

Dave Boen

NEWs from dunbar= cave:
We continue a very successful and busy summer. The Interpretive Staff and a few volunteers presented 137 programs for 1550 persons. T= hese included cave hikes, bat programs, night hikes, insects, aquatic studies, tracks and signs, pictographs, man’s use of the area, Native American= s, ecology, wildflowers, snakes, frogs and toads, and other nature programs. Amanda and Nathan, our Seasonal Interpretive Rangers, have = done an outstanding job. Unfortunately (for us), Amanda will be leaving in August to take on a graduate assistant position at Austin Peay. We will miss her.

Dr. Barrass of Austin Peay State University Center of Excellen= ce in Field Biology presented a summary of the ongoing research on the bats of Dunbar Cave to the staff, Friends and visitors. Students continued this
research throughout July, and it will be ongoing for several years. <= br style=3D'mso-special-character:line-break'>

Our hummingbird nest produced at least one young which has left the
nest, as have most of our barn swallows. The swallows will be leaving=
us in about two weeks, getting ready to migrate.

The trail signs&n= bsp; that the Friends purchased for us look wonderful.
We appreciate them immensely. Hopefully they will mean fewer lost
hikers!
Amy Atkins Wallace
Interpretive Specialist
Dunbar Cave State Natural Area

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Call for Dunba= r Cave Memorabilia

The Friends of Dunbar Cave = is asking the community for their collectibles that are directly related to Dunbar Cave history such as: photographs, programs, posters, and artifacts, to be included in the new Dunbar Cave Interpretative Center.

Donations may include origi= nals, which would be housed in the Tennessee State Archives with a copy placed in= the exhibit, or with donor permission, copied/scanned and the originals returne= d to the donor. Acceptance of the memorabilia will be based on duplication, condition, appropriateness to the= Interpretative Center, and space limitations. Recognition and item provenance wi= ll be noted.

Memorabilia from the “= ;Early Resort Era”, late 1800 through early 1900 is of special interest, however the exhibit will cover all historica= l eras and subjects of importance. <= /p>

The long awaited Interpretative Cent= er was identified in the Governor's budget and the state legislative approval = is imminent. The project is expe= cted to take up to 3 years to complete. <= /span>

Please cont= act the Dunbar Cave Visitor’s Center at (931) 648-5526 to arrange an appointment to discuss your donation.

UPCOMING SPEAKER:

September 20^th, 7pm Jo= seph Schiller from the Warioto Audubon Society