We were back at Timms for our regular meeting, and what a meeting it was. We had only seven members present: the rest of you missed a great meeting. Wayne, Allan, Leon, Rudy, Nora, Anthony and Stephen were joined by guests Wayne Crossen (Rotarian) and Jenna Kissel and Alysa, two technicians with the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program. Merle sent her regrets.
Pre-meeting discussions included hot chocolate (stored in a car trunk?), stone statues from Korea, and owls. We sang O Canada and received the following reviews: “Good.” “Good rendition.” “Good tempo.”
Stephen welcomed everyone to the meeting and moved quickly into the main feature for the evening.
Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program
The Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program is going on in Langley and most people are completely unaware. That is deliberate, as having many people try to visit the location would not allow the program to be successful. The Northern Spotted Owl is an endangered species, and is found in BC, and the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. The health of the NSO reflects the health of our old growth areas. The NSO is a specialist species, and only is found in old growth forest areas. The Barred Owls, on the other hand, are a generalist species and live in many different habitats.
The owls lay one to three eggs in a clutch, and these are removed and carefully incubated to encourage the owl to lay another clutch. This is an entirely different meaning of double clutching than I heard when learning to drive our old farm pickup truck. Chicks are hand-raised for ten days and then carefully returned to owl nests, not necessarily to the same parent owl. A fledgling is 35 days old and will start exploring. By six months, the owl is fully grown. For the first time three male owls raised in captivity have been released into the wild on Spo zem land, with the full support of the First Nations.
Currently the breeding program has five staff members, after only three for a long time. Their goal is to have ten breeding pairs in captivity and get up to 250 spotted owls in the wild in order to prevent the species from becoming extinct. Jenna showed an excellent slide presentation and commentary followed by showing us Small Eyes, a live owl on display in our room. This is the only Northern Spotted Owl which sits on an arm for showing, so is very unique. If you want to see all the slides Wayne captured from the screen, please give him a call.
We thanked our two guest speakers and presented them with a cheque for $500 to go towards their breeding program. More photos were taken by numerous people at this meeting than at any other I can recall
Wayne then read the Foundation Moment for this week.
WHAT ARE THE ARCH KLUMPH SOCIETY AND THE LEGACY SOCIETY?
Donors whose cumulative gifts total US$250,000 or more are recognized as members of the Arch Klumph Society. As a member, you’re honored at an induction ceremony and have your picture and biography in the Leaders in Philanthropy interactive display at Rotary International World Headquarters. You’ll receive invitations to special events, along with membership pins and crystals that commemorate your giving level. Since 2004, more than 700 people have joined the Arch Klumph Society.
Donors who promise a gift of $1 million or more to the Endowment are invited to join the Legacy Society. As a member, you’ll receive special tokens of appreciation and all the benefits provided to Bequest Society members. Legacy Society members are listed in Rotary’s annual report and are also invited to special events.
Are you interested in becoming a member of the Arch Klumph Society or the Legacy Society?
The Light Touch
The Light Touch tonight was a short one.
I told my wife there is only one thing that scares me on Hallowe’en.
My wife: “Which is?”
Me: “Exactly.”
Other updates
And then we were on to happy and sad dollars. We raised $27 from six donations for: Ukrainian family settling in to life here in BC; finding another leak on his house roof; happy that the kitchen is finished at RIC; an excellent, first-class presentation this evening; son and daughter-in-law back from Korea but having trouble adjusting to our time clock; spending a week in Mexico with Bob and Maria Hillmer; and more for the Northern Spotted Owl presentation. We toasted Canada and then did some more visiting.
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