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The 2008 Kern River Valley Spring Nature Festival
is one for the books, over 500 people enjoyed field trips, music,
keynote speeches, workshops and just being out among the beauty of the Kern
River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada.
We thank all of our volunteers, trip leaders, and participants for making this
one of the best festivals ever. Bob Barnes did a yeoman's job in creating some
of the more memorable moments for visitors from all over the country. High
praise for our trip leaders was shared by many of the trip participants. Thank
you to our trip leaders: Larry Allen, Bob Barnes, Bill Bouton, Gary File, Ernie
Flores, Joe Fontaine, Mary Freeman, Nick Freeman, Wes Fritz, Fred Heath,
Fletcher Linton, Dan Lockshaw, Michael McQuerrey, Linda Oberholtzer, Gary
Potter, Mike Prather, Jim Royer, John Schmitt, Steve Sosensky, Bob Steele, Susan
Steele, John Sterling, Lee Sutton, Reed Tollefson, and John Wilson.
Our dinner programs offered top notch speakers and great food. Bob Steele
gave an amazing program on Friday
night "Warblers of the Southern Sierra and Kern
River Valley", not only is his photography magical, his
presentations are so entertaining and educational. People in
the audience were transfixed by his talk (even the non-birders), the chattering
from the crowd was how much they learned about
the warblers that live in and visit this area.
Then on Saturday, Bob taught his ever popular Bird
Photography workshops, his knowledge of bird behavior and photographic
techniques is amazing and something new can be learned each and every outing.
Thank you Bob!
The Saturday evening program was a real treat with
the amazing knowledge and spirit of John Muir "Jack" Laws! His passion for
nature is infectious and so many people were amazed at his
expertise and
understanding of the delicate balance between nature and people.
On Sunday, we were treated to how to paint birds and
wildflowers in the field. Understanding perspective really helps to interpret
the flowers and animals in a natural way, Jack is a great teacher! Thank you Jack!
Thanks also go to "Out of the Blue", Pat Seamount, Michael Gallagher,
and Terry Harris for entertaining our Saturday night crowd and doing triple duty
by playing at the preserve on Saturday and Sunday afternoon!
As always there would be no festival without the support of Audubon staff, Kern
River Preserve volunteers and KRVR. Each year we call upon Sandra Wieser, Birdie
Foster and Chuck Wild to keep the books balanced and the fiscal operations
running smoothly. It is a challenge to pay the bills with no outside sponsorship
of this festival. Without these three and Bob Barnes, this festival would
cease to exist. THANK YOU.
Other volunteers and staff to thank include: Katie Alheim, Darrell Barnes, Jay
Barush, Bob Bergeron, Georgie Bergeron, Brenda Burnett, Valerie Cassity, Bill
Foster, Charlotte Goodson, Kate Goodson, Ellene Gravelle, Noel Gravelle, Chris
Hancock, Gordon Hancock, Carlie Henneman, Steve Kenton, Jeff King, Archie
Logsdon, Critter Lomax, Tia Lomax, Buz Lunsford, Marya Miller, Wendy Rannals,
Matt Reiter, Rob Robinson, Jackie Smith, Holly Sorenson, Shirley Sutton, Paul
Webb and Carol Wermuth.
PHOTO GALLERY |
The effervescent Charlotte Goodson runs the Children's booth
at each festival. Photo by
Alison Sheehey © 2008 |
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