President’s Message

AVAS INNOVATIONS

by SeEtta Moss

   ►Now that summer is over, it is time for our Southern Colorado BIRD-N-NATURE FEST that will be held in Pueblo on September 27, 2003. We are really excited to host this first-time event that will address several of our chapter’s goals including improving chapter outreach as well as increasing appreciation of birds, wildlife and nature. See the announcement on page 2 in this issue of the Harrier for more information.  

   We can use some more volunteers to help with the event so give me or Leon Bright a phone call if you can help us out that day or even for a few hours.  If you can’t volunteer, then plan to attend and bring your children, or someone else’s children, as we will have a number of children’s activities and this is a great way to connect them with nature.  It will also be a fun and free activity for all ages.

   ►You will find a significant change in the Harrier, starting with this issue.  We have added some advertising. This is one of the things your Board is doing to meet our budgetary needs due to significant reductions in our income. As I noted in the November issue of the Harrier, we are receiving a significantly reduced share of the dues paid by members to National Audubon Society.  Then, the Birdathon donations we have received so far this year are about half of what we received in past years.

   Sadly, this is a common problem for most non-profit organizations this year. So, in order to continue our conservation efforts as well as paying for the printing and postage to send out the Harrier to

members, it is necessary for us to increase our income by doing some new things such as paid advertising.

   We are also planning to sell Audubon Calendars ($12 - $13), Audubon Birds (no, not real birds but plush birds with authentic bird calls provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology—we will sell them for around $7), some colorful t-shirts, shade-grown coffee and birdseed gift bags to make some money. We will sell these at the Bird-N-Nature Fest and at our program meetings this fall. These items make great gifts and you can help out our chapter by purchasing a few. See you at the Fest, it’s free!!

 September program

HANDS-ON “PROJECTS FOR AVAS” NIGHT

September’s AVAS program will be a departure from our norm.  Because the BIRD ‘N’ NATURE FEST on Sept. 27 will provide excellent educational experiences for our members and the public, the AVAS Board will hold a Chapter-oriented get together on Friday, September 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the classroom of the Pueblo Zoo.

We will be preparing bags of birdseed for sale by the Chapter as a fundraiser.  We hope to sell 60 one- to two-pound bags for the Christmas season which means we need lots of hands to help make attractive gifts for sale. No previous experience necessary!

Come, help, visit, partake of refreshments and have a good time!