OFF THE BEATEN PATH

OFF THE BEAT= EN PATH
Friends of Dunbar Cave Newsletter	May 2008

UPCOMING MEETIN= G:

THURSDAY MAY 15^{th<=
/sup>,
AT 6:00 PM, DUNBAR CAVE STATE NATURAL AREA VISITOR CENTER.}

NEWs from dunbar cave:

&nb= sp; We have had a very busy spring, as usual. School groups three days a week, p= ublic cave hikes on weekends. The f= lowers are blooming, birds are arriving daily.&nb= sp; During the Spring Fling we were fortunate to see a female Wood Duck = fly into her nesting hole in a sycamore tree, and both Scarlet and Summer Tanag= er males in the same tree. Our G= reen Heron is back for the summer, many warblers are passing through. We see more wildflowers every year – more species and just more in numbers, spreading in the areas that = we have protected for over thirty years. The Pawpaw Trees are covered in flowers – making up for being frozen last year? The Dogwood= tree the Friends were given by the Governor is also covered in flowers, and the = oak you planted in memory of Bob’s father five years ago is doing well.

&nb= sp; Nathan Smith has graduated from the Police Academy and is no longer working here – he is now a ranger at Paris Landing State Park. We miss him.

&nb= sp; We have a new clerk, Teresa Novotny. Some of you met her at Spring Fling. She has lived in Clarksville most of her life. She is fitting in very well and le= arning all the things she needs to know to run the office. Come by and see her one day!

We hope to have the display panels for the cave art up in May. Jan Simek will visit us to help ex= cavate the holes for the posts – who knows what w= e may find under the cave floor.

W= e want to remind you of the Beyond Bow Birding Workshop on May 17. We hope you will attend.

Next month’s meeting:

THURSDAY, JUNE 19^th AT 6PM, DUNBAR CAVE STATE NATURAL AREA VISITOR CENTER.

UPCOMING Events= :

"Dunbar Cave: A Change of Seasons" by Greg Williamson will run April 24 through June 29 in Heritage Hall at the Customs House Museum.

A NOTE FROM DAV= E:

Friends

Once again we had a successful S= pring Fling. Hundreds of people enjoyed the birds, the snakes, and all of t= he rest. It sure takes a bunch of us to pull this event off, and we did a fine job of it. You may have noticed Leaf Chronicle, Clarksville Onli= ne, Channel 4, WZJM radio, and Clarksville Family all promoted our event. Special thanks to Jen Mantlo for making all of that promotion happen. Also, we had a nice follow-up article in Clarksville Online as well as the Leaf Chronicle. Tennessee Wild Side was out for much of the= day to film our event – I was told to look for it early this fall. Thanks to Suva and Jack Bastin with the Tennessee Trails group for providing refreshments and lots of help. And of course, we could not have even begun to have Spring Fling without Steve Hamilton lining up the presenters = and setting the schedule.

See you at the meeting!

Dave

Save the date! M= ay 17!

     =
            &nb=
sp;  Dunbar and TWRA  (Po=
lly Rooker and Susan Lanier) are hosting our third annual birding workshop =
this May.  Several of the Frie=
nds have participated in the last two, and we would love to have any of the=
 Friends of Dunbar Cave involved this year.  It is always a lot of fun. Here is the information-

     =
            &nb=
sp;  Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Dunbar Cave State =
Natural Area present our "Beyond BOW Birding Workshop" Saturday, =
May 17 from 9 am to 3 pm.  For=
 ages 18 and older.  This is p=
art of the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, but we won't discriminate ag=
ainst any men who want to participate.&nbs=
p; Learn to identify birds by sight and sound, take a bird walk thro=
ugh a variety of habitats, see a bird banding demonstration, and learn abou=
t backyard bird habitat basics.  Fee is $20, which goes to Dunbar Cave to be used for educational materia=
ls.  Lunch is included in the =
fee.  In the past, participant=
s have received educational materials and freebies such as T-shirts, mugs, =
bird call CD's, Birds of Tennessee laminated i.d. folders, and other items.=
  Stop by the Visitor Center a=
nd pick up a registration form, or call 931-648-5526 or e-mail amy.wallace@state.tn.us if you =
would like to be mailed a form.  Call Don Hosse of TWRA at (615)781-6541 if you have any questions.  <=
o:p>

MEETING NOTES:<= /span>

April 17, 2008

Members present

Minutes approved for Ma= rch: &= nbsp;

Budget Report: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $23,610.00 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;

Treasurer: Ron Hunter

Old business=

We had 38 volunteers for the mulching which was a great turnout, and we finish= ed mulching all the areas that needed to be done.

Current Business=

Finalized Spring Fling plans and approved the building of a shed.

Next Meeting=

To be held on May 15^th, 2008, Thursday, at 6 PM. =

The Friends of DC Historian is updating the scrapbook for the recent events that the Fri= ends have sponsored at Dunbar Cave:

= Cooling at the Cave 2007, Haunting History 2007, Mulching Trails in 2007 and 2008, Trees to Trails 2006 and 2007, Spring Fling 2007 and 2008.

So please go through= your photo file and look for a few photos that depicts the event. Clipped newspaper articles, etc., would also be appreciated.

If you have somethin= g for me, please identify the event and year and send to:

Friends of Dunbar Ca= ve, Attention Historian, P.O. Box 254, Clarksville, TN 37041-0254<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>

If you have digital = photos that you can e-mail me, please e-mail to friends@dunbarcave.org=

= and put Attention: Historian in the Subject line.

Thank you very much!=

Debbie Hamlin=