Yesterday I received a very interesting email from Pam our fiscal manager at ISI who said that she and Loren had attended the fundraising breakfast for Daily Acts where they had been surprised to see our friend Brock Dolman on stage dressed in a beaver costume and talking about the good beavers do. She snapped this shot with her phone and you can see the beaver’d Brock wayyyyy at the back. She also said there was video of the event and we should get it soon.
You might remember Pam helped at the festival and trekked to our planning meeting beforehand. She had been such a help in our transition aboard that when she admired my wildbryde keystone species charm necklace I had given it to her. She wore it to this event and guess what happened?
And your name is quite well known. I wore my beautiful charm necklace, of course, and a little girl there told me she made her own at the Beaver Festival! Several other adults had also attended. …I am happy to be associated with your fine organization 🙂
How cool is that? Someone wearing our charms was spotted by a child who had made them herself! And former attendees of the festival were at the breakfast promoting our good work! Now that’s an awesome coincidence. And it’s what I call being surrounded by beavers!
More good news came from Sherry Guzzi in Tahoe. You’ll remember that she and Ted had installed flow devices at Taylor Creek where they had been battling beavers for decades and ripping out dams to protect nonnative kokonee salmon. They had waged an epic [and I do mean epic] campaign to win hearts and minds and were finally begrudgingly given the go ahead “try one” in a back channel. Of course this worked like a charm so they were granted permission to try one on the main channel. Guess what happened?
I want to personally thank you so very much for all your hard work, coordination, communication, perseverance and good humor. It has been a pleasure working with you to create more harmony between the visiting public and beaver at the Visitors Center!
I am excited about the other opportunities to collaborate that we’ve been exploring. Your assistance in addressing beaver concerns at other locations in the Basin will be warmly welcomed.
Is it possible that in a million years I never expected this response and I simultaneously have imagined no other? Fantastic work Ted and Sherry! And everyone else who helped nudge, wheedle, persuade, cajole and shame this into happening. Finally the Taylor Creek beavers can live in peace!
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And a final note of warm remembrance for car guru and radio humorist Tom Margliozzi, who died yesterday from complications due to Alzheimer’s. Everyone remembers his infectious laugh and his playful advice but I don’t think that was his real talent. Tom and his brother were both MIT graduates. They were realists who loved science and solving problems. Tom was educated without being elitist. Regional without being exclusionary. Populist without be simplistic. Traditional without being dated and funny without being mean. In three minutes Tom could connect with a Lexus driver in NYC, a Ford pickup driver in Alabama, or an Honda driver in Chicago. There are a handful of people alive in our partisan world that still have that skill. He perfected it.
He is remembered on this website with his badge of honor. The brass rat.
quid rides? mutato nomine de te fabula narratur
(Why do you laugh? Change the name and the story is told of you)
