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OFF THE BEATEN PATH |
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Friends of |
NOVEMBER 2006 |
NEXT
MEETING:
THURSDAY,
NOVEMBER 16, 2006, AT 6:00PM,
Welcome to New members: Schuyler & Bonnie
Martin and Mckensie J. Morrison
There is an article in this month's magazine
"The Tennessee Conservationist"
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/tn_consv/ about
Christmas tree recycling and the Friends of DC was mentioned in the
article. There is a picture of Hannah Kitterman and Matt Cruz
mulching
An interesting idea from the article is bagging the
Christmas tree mulch and distributing to the public (folks without a pickup
truck can take home some mulch). This is an idea
for Friends of DC to do if the decision is made to continue
mulching Christmas trees this year.
D.
NEWs
from
The Haunting History event October 27
and 28 was very successful, despite the rain on Friday (which luckily stopped
twenty minutes after the start time and did not resume until after the event
was almost over) and all the other events going on that weekend. Our Treasurer
estimates the Friends made between $825 and $900! (he is not finished counting
yet) – which is pure profit due to the numbers of items donated this year. We
had 73 participants on Friday and 253 on Saturday!
Debbie Boen worked very hard for
several weeks writing and organizing the skits, finding and making props,
getting actors, getting volunteers, setting up, and directing all those who
came to help. She pretty much saved the event from dying this year and deserves
much credit and thanks for being willing to take this on! So, THANK YOU DEBBIE
BOEN! Several Friends were able to help
out, and we grabbed people in off the trails to help as well (actually, many
regular park visitors were eager to volunteer).
We appreciate them filling in for the Friends who were not able to be
here due to other commitments. I hope
that they will become members of the group and continue to volunteer! You will notice that many of the volunteers
performed several jobs and all were responsible for the great success of this
event.
The new skits were very funny and the
young actors extremely enthusiastic. The
audience learned a lot about bats and other cave life, the history of the area,
and about the “new” cave art. Everyone seemed to enjoy them very much. We are blessed to have young people who love
the area and are willing to donate so much of their time and talents - to spend
ten hours in a dark, damp cave over two weekend nights sharing with visitors!
Thanks to all
who made this event possible:
Mack Finley - donated pumpkins; Home
Depot - donated Chemlights for the jack-o-lanterns; Jersey Mike’s - donated two
large trays of sandwiches for the hungry actors (and David Britton who arranged
for them to be donated); Kitty Madden and Beverly Fisher- money to the cause;
Bill Larson – extra lights;
Thanks to all our volunteers:
Actors:
Elizabeth Hadden, Isabelle Harden, Katie Harden, Rachel Jones, Corey
Klem,
Tour Guides: Bill Larson,
Kitty Madden, Beverly Fisher, Beth Robinson,
Gate
Keepers: Stephanie Potts, Beth
Robinson,
Refreshments:
Others:
Steve Hamilton brought pumpkins and oil for the torches; Ethebet Hart-Gibson,
Shirley Berardo, Christine Piesyk, Marilyn Rachlin sold tickets and T-shirts
and tried to stay dry on Friday; Amy and Casper Wallace carved the pumpkins;
Amy Wallace made ghosts and set the stage in the cave. Will Ward and David Britton helped with
set-up; Bob Wells and Amy Wallace provided security.
Special thanks to: Hannah Kitterman for taking care of the
actors both nights, running through the cave for hours with water, messages and
whatever they needed, and Beth Rachin for doing the same with Hannah on Friday;
to Christine Piesyk, Barbara Wilbur,
Gloria Milliken and Elaine Foust for sitting in the cold for over four hours on
Saturday to sell tickets and shirts, and to serve refreshments; to David,
Debbie and Randy Boen, Barry Kitterman,
I hope that we did not forget anyone and that
everyone’s name is spelled right!
The same weekend, I did a hike for some of the
Tennessee Ornithological Society members who were in town for their annual
meeting. On Saturday morning at 7:20, the birds were everywhere! We saw Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse,
tons of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Cardinal, Mockingbird, White-breasted Nuthatch,
Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, House Wren, Canada Geese, Mallard, Great Blue
Heron, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker,
Pileated Woodpecker, Flicker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-tailed Hawk,
Red-shouldered Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, and
others, and the not so usual – Ring-necked Ducks, Coots, Pied-billed Grebe,
three Brown Creepers and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo! The last bird is very unusual to find this
late in the year.
Finally, be sure to look for the Nashville Channel
17 (which in
Got the final tally for the
Haunting History event -
Money taken in - $1518.31
Money spent $91.05
Net profit - $1302.00 !!
Amy Atkins Wallace
Interpretive Specialist
Notes
from the friends conference
Saturday, October 27, 2006 – Friends Conference Notes
- Leave
extra newsletters at the
Marketing Your Friends
Group on the Web
- Communicate with interested parties = forum to display their work online (photography, poetry, short stories, etc.)
- Activity schedule (eye catching)
- Expense = about $100/year (10GB)
- Link
to regular
- Microsoft front page (old), Microsoft Expressions (new version) license = $60
- Managing email list = Mail List King
- Introductory page
- List of members
- Local resources
- Photography page
- Contact forms (Q&A)
- Donations page equipped w/pay pal
Tennessee Parks &
Greenways – How We can Help Our Friends
- Think big (National non-profit)
- Conservation Easement = property right that restricts their rights of the land forever (tax advantages)
- Appraise w/o conservation easement
- Appraise w/conservation easement
- Difference = tax deductible (50%)
- 15 years to claim deduction
- Why is the land important (should go in Conservation Easement)
- Photos – aerial & every little thing
- 15
Groups in
- Trail Easement (can carry them around in your back pocket)
- Most Easements do not allow public access
- Most current Easements are voluntary (not solicited)
- Forrest Legacy
Iris Fund – How Friends
Can Help
- Can
utilize to add landscaping of native plants to
ATBI
- Biologist inventory of natural things
- ATBI database login (accessible in the future)
- Plots = 20m x 50m
Park Manager’s Panel
- Critical that you have a true, defined mission
- Want
to receive our newsletter each month?
Become a Friends member, and get in-depth information about what is
going on at
- Fall Cruise (Edgar Evans)
- Historical Hayride (Edgar Evans)
- Friends do tours through the cave to help with cost of tours/make more money for park
- Friends groups are part of the Park Manager’s job
- Let people know what you did with the money they donated
- Promote your meetings (use media sources)
- Know
your park & bylaws, so you can market your group intelligently w/the
media