July 8th meeting coming up! Janice Petko

Congratulations to the June 2010 OCVNer class! Some of the old OCVNer's, Sharon Strouse and Chris Sieverdes met the new OCVNers tonight following their testing. We all enjoyed a dinner organized and put together by Janice Tipton, along with some extra dishes brought in by the old OCVNer's! It was great to meet the new class and it looks like there is a lot of talent with them. Maybe we can all help them get started finding and learning about some volunteer opportunities. I hope they will be able to come out to our meetings at The Wilderness Center on the 2nd Thursday of each month in order to learn more about the opportunities available, and meet all the great people in the club.

I'd like to thank Pat Dutton and Dee Pendlebury for sharing about their work with The Explorers during our last meeting! I've heard from those who attended that it was a good meeting and the program was interesting. Thanks again, ladies!

July 8th is the next meeting and Janice Petko, a birder and visitor to our club, will be presenting a program on bluebirds and the work she does to protect and care for them. I had the opportunity to accompany her on one of her bluebird trails last weekend and it was fantastic fun! I learned a lot about bluebird and swallow nesting behaviors. This woman is a powerhouse of knowledge and energy! I'm very sure you'll enjoy hearing and seeing her presentation as well as meeting her. Her professionalism and passion for her work is impressive.

Not only is Janice a great birder, but she is a talented photographer. She travels and makes wonderful notecards to sell at a reasonable price and the photos are phenomenal. I'm hoping she brings some with her. I've bought quite a few, and like to give them as gifts. Please join us at 7:00 pm on July 8th. We'll also have a short meeting afterwards for volunteer opportunities and discussion!