I’m bursting with good beaver news this morning, so thought I’d tell you everything all at once. First, Happy Birthday to Worth A Dam’s treasurer and “Man-Friday” Jon Ridler! Another year whirred by under the weight of beaver madness. Jon was the hard working soul who helped our boyscout plant trees, has been watering the trees, kayak cleans the creek, borrowed the tables for the beaver festival from the powerplant where he works, set up the festival, gave tours at the festival and took down the festival– well you get the idea. In his spare time he’s married to me, so Happy Birthday Jon! Never a dull moment!
Secondly, thanks to our new friend Scott at the smart website JournOwl. Our photographer connected with him around his interest in burrowing owls and lured him to the festival, where they met, swapped stories, and she introduced him to our other newish friend Susan Kirks of P.L.A.N. and Badger fame. He wrote a lovely piece about the ecological interconnections, so thanks Scott and thanks, Cheryl!
And to my surprise the Worth A Dam event was indeed a happening place as we wandered from booth to booth, talking with the likes of the National Parks Service and the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society chapter. But, the Twitter connection that put JournOwl.com on Worth A Dam’s radar was suddenly converted to a face to face meeting with Cheryl. From our conversation I quickly gathered that Cheryl was more than a conservationist and the VP of a non-profit, but a wildlife advocate completely willing to further a cause beyond that of her local Martinez beaver population. The dialogue was a sharing of ideas and thoughts from someone who has been there to someone, myself, who is just beginning the journey; it was a coming together of mutual values for a common goal.
Speaking of friends old and new, do you remember Ian Timothy of Kentucky? He’s the remarkable 13 year old (now a whopping 14) who started the claymation series “Beaver Creek” episode I of which he has already sold to a text book company in Canada! His introductory science lesson on beavers won the AT&T Science Challenge at the Louiseville Science Center. In his spare time Ian is starting High School this year, and yesterday wrote to let me know that Part 3 of beaver creek is available for your viewing pleasure. It features exciting beaver-otter conflict resolution.
