The smoke is settling, the U-haul has been returned and the puppet winners have been contacted. This year there were only 12 transactions to complete on the silent auction, and after today I’ll be down to nine! It’s more than time to share some photos of the beaver day, and Cheryl sent some wonderful photos of the festival we all thought we attended. There is so much more to see on the day than any one person can take in! Do you know as our awesome exhibit coordinator, she went rushing back and forth between the booths and actually clocked 6 miles in that little half acre park that day?
The journals were definitely a hit, and you can see why. Earning them was a great way to get children engaged in the festival and thinking about the way beavers change the watershed. It was also dam cute, which is always fun.
You can see it was fairly labor intensive getting the journals made and put together. Thankfully the we had Excellent helpers this year in the form of the Watershed Stewards who helped every child make their own. Besides the journals there were birds and catapillars to see, and so much more!
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Georgette Howington runs the Blue Bird recovery program (and incidentally ,her husband Bruce founded this very website lo these many years ago), single-handedly brought child after child to my table to start the activity. This morning she had these very kind words to say on FB:
Tom Garry, my nest box monitor partner, and I represented the California Bluebird Recovery Program yesterday at the “10th Annual Martinez Beaver Festival” along with 40 other organizations! We have participated every year since the beginning of its inception and every year, Heidi Perryman, and her crew, outdo the previous year. Musicians, a Children’s Procession, Art Projects and a Silent Auction to name a few of the activities…Heidi provided a project for all the children called, “Learn To Earn: Working for the Ecosystem”. Each child would visit the designated booth and “earn” their tattoos to complete the nature journal. Last I spoke with Heidi, over a hundred children played the game running around the festival eagerly. seeking out the booths and to get their tattoos and prizes…budding naturalists born! I had a chance to visit each booth. Many of the people in attendance are old friends in the community after decades of volunteering and I have to say, I think we had every bit as much fun as the children!!! I wish I could had posted all the photos I took. These are just a sampling but I am very grateful for having the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful event for families and children in our community.
During all this, the performers on stage delighted everyone with their wonderful entertainment. There wasn’t a moment that wasn’t delightful and we were so lucky to have all their talents in one place. John Koss was the amazing sound technician who volunteered a 12 hours of his life to set up the equipment and adjust everything for the different acts. If there is a more cohesive way to truly show off a variety of musicians, I’m sure I don’t know what it is.
I’ll post individual photos over time, but I thought this was the easiest way to show you how much was going on and how spectacularly it all came together thanks to everyone’s very hard work.
