July 2008

Dear Humans, Birds and, of course, Elephants,

Fiddler on the Roof is over and this time I am going to miss it. Granted, it had nothing to do with birds, but it became an enormous part of my life. We rehearsed every day, seven days a week, but it was really worth it. My director, Lori Schneider-Wendt, and my musical director, Amanda Mita, were incomparable. The cast was delightful and everything about this production was good. We also got some rave reviews and that is always so gratifying. It was such a pleasure to see so many friends from the bird club come to my performances.

This is the 21^st anniversary of our bird club and I never get tired of saying that I am so proud to have been the president of this worthwhile organization. I continue to feel that we do an invaluable service to the pet birds and bird owners of our community. I still get many phone calls each week from people who need help with their birds and others who want to give them up for adoption or those who want to adopt them. The ones who want to give them up generally make me very sad.

It is also so difficult to make sure the adoption is a "good" adoption. We never adopt out a pet bird to be used as a breeder and we always want to make sure that the person adopting has the time and patience for the bird. We want to make sure that the birds are never adopted to a home where it is kept caged all the time. We also want to make sure that the adopter is going to give the bird the medical attention it needs when it needs it. All these things are taken into consideration before a bird is allowed to be adopted. It is just difficult to make sure that everything is really done. Many people make promises, and sometimes they are not easy to keep. Let us hope that everyone who adopts a bird really cares for it the way we, as the bird club, feel is in the best interests of the bird. I always feel and let people know that if you do not like our ways, you can buy a bird. Nobody can stop you from doing that. Unfortunately the pet shops are always full and they will generally sell to anyone who gives them money. Our adoptions do not go along those lines.

I have done many adoptions that are fantastic and permanent and that makes me very happy. All I ask (or we ask as a club) is that you love the bird, give it the time and attention it deserves as a beloved pet. Keep it healthy and out of the cage, every day, as much as possible. Of course, every bird must fit into the lifestyle of its owner, but all these things should be decided and acknowledged at the time of adoption. Nobody should leave a parrot loose in the house when they are not home because the bird can get hurt or killed and the house can be destroyed. But, when you are home, that bird should be your friend and companion and not confined to the parameters of the bars of the cage all the time. Birds are a high maintenance pet and that, too, should be understood before you adopt or buy one.

Tonight should be a really nice evening. We warmly welcome our guest speaker, Mike Janis, who is the Executive Director of the Broome County Zoo in Binghamton. Mike's present job and his former position as Curator of Ornithology in the Baltimore Zoo in Maryland, give him the experience to present a most interesting program to us. He is one of those people from whom we can learn so much. I am so happy that he decided to come and speak to us.

We also have a silent auction with many items. Please be generous with your bids as the money we collect from that goes directly to the expenses of the bird club. I want to thank club member, Judy Braun, for organizing the silent auction at tonight's anniversary dinner party. For those of you who do not know, Judy's book, "Still Life with Elephant," has been translated into several languages and is being sold in many countries world wide. She writes under the name, Judy Singer. If you haven't read her book yet, please get a copy and read it, it will be a treat. Judy has written several other books as well.

Next month is quite a busy month for our club. We are having our club picnic on August 2^nd at the Fumess Estate in Liberty. Club member, Laurie Rothberg (got it right that time) has been our picnic organizer. If you haven't let her know that you are coming yet, please do so. Also, let her know what you will be bringing, as our picnics are covered dish affairs. Her email address is lroth46@hvc.rr.com, or you can call her at 807-1166. Thank you, Laurie, for taking the time to organize our picnic this year. By the way, you can do it next year too. August, also, will be bringing us our guest speaker ,Reid Bauer, from the Raptor Rehabilitation Program at Frost Valley, at our regular meeting on August 14^th. Please try to be there.

Our yearly dues are due. As we talked about at our last meeting, the dues have gone up for the first time in many years. Our yearly dues are now $24 for a single membership and $30 for a family. We probably still have the most reasonable dues of any bird club in America, actually, in all the Americas............Maybe, in the whole wide world.........We are also the only club who invites elephants to be part of our membership and I, personally, think that is nice. It shows we do not discriminate against any life form.

People (and others) have a wonderful evening. Enjoy the food, enjoy the fellowship and enjoy the program. As I said before, please give as generously as you can for our silent auction items and Happy Anniversary. May we have many, many more.

LOVE,

RICHIE