Naturalist and Outreach Coordinator for the St. Charles Park District, Pam Otto, was this week’s featured speaker at Rotary. Otto gave a condensed version of a weekly nature program called “The Good Natured Hour” she presents each Tuesday evening at 8 PM.
Pam Otto began her Rotary talk by saying she is a “nature nerd.” Otto is the Naturalist and Outreach Coordinator for the Saint Charles Park District. Among her duties is presenting a weekly program called “The Good Natured Hour” where she talks about the latest happenings involving animals and nature settings found in the St. Charles area.
Just recently there was a social media frenzy around “Tom Charles,” a turkey who wandered into St. Charles searching for a mate. “Tom” showed up at a number of unexpected locations but never found the spouse he sought and has since moved on to other pastures. Otto also related a recent investigation into someone finding an unusual snakeskin from a clearly non-native Illinois species. The skin was over seven feet long meaning it came from one big snake. No actual snake sighting has been made indicating it probably involves a snake from someone’s personal collection. Otto also spoke about someone thinking they saw a cobra snake; it actually was the much more timid “hognose” snake. When threatened, this snake will initially hiss and raise its head like a cobra, but if its enemy is not deterred, the snake will likely roll onto its back and play dead. They can even get small droplets of blood to come from their mouth. The snake watches its predator and will leave the area when the threat is clear.
Otto said one of the animals making their seasonal birthing appearances is the mink. Although quite common, the mink is rarely seen. Mink living in the wild are commonly found along riverbanks, lakes, and marshes. However, they can also populate a storm water system in order to move unobserved throughout a town. Other species returning at this time of year includes the tree swallow. The migratory bird winters along the southern Gulf Coast. Otto also gave a word of warning about ticks. With their ability to cling to clothing and a beak-like mouth to penetrate skin to find blood, they are prime parasites for carrying infectious diseases. Otto uses Sawyer Insect Repellent which is safe on clothing as a way to protect against illness.
Further information about Otto’s weekly “Good Natured Hour” may be found at the Saint Charles Park District website www.stcparks.org under the “Activities” section.
As of this morning (Wednesday, April 20), 54 Hula raffle drawdown tickets that have been sold / claimed. If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, now is the time to get your number. And for the remaining 36 tickets, it's time to start kicking the social media campaigns or phone calls into gear. This is a great opportunity for your friends and family to win a chance at $3000 while helping to support local projects.
As for dinner/trivia attendees, I have the following:
Name (Total Attendees)
Bob Brown (1)
Bob Farley (2)
Bob Hammon (2)
Brandon Diviak (1)
Chris Boyes (8)
David Dosier (2)
Eric Jones (2)
Heidi Wright (2)
Jeff Jacobson (2)
Jeff Keicher (2)
Jeff Jacobson (2)
Jeff Petersen (1)
Jonelle Bailey (1)
Kathleen Smith (1)
Mark Spiegelhoff (2)
Michael DeVito (2)
Michele Jurkovic (2)
Pat Shafer (3)
Paul Barnaby (1)
Paul Michel (2)
Paul Stromborg (2)
Paulette Renault (2)
Ray Dembinksi (2)
Riley Oncken (2)
Sally Bruch (1)
Steve Kuhn (1)
Sue Emberson (1)
Tim Neubert (2)
Velvet Mason (1)
That's 56 people for trivia or only about half of capacity. It's a pretty sad state so far for this year's Hula with only one week left to go. We're looking at a potential profit of about $2,000 right now and no reason to sell 101/102 tickets. I have three (3) trivia round sponsors, but several door prizes:
Donations are currently being requested for the Sycamore Food Pantry. Bring a bottle of laundry detergent...or $10 for Julie Sgarlata to purchase one. Money is easier to handle.
Personal hygiene items (bar soap, shampoo, etc.) are also being sought.
April 18, 1906 – An early morning earthquake rocks San Francisco causing the deaths of over 4,000 people and destruction of 10,000 acres of property.
April 19, 1775 – It was dawn and 70 armed militiamen stood face to face with a British advance guard unit on Lexington Green when an unordered shot from the British became “the shot heard round the world” and the American Revolution began. Eight Americans died and ten were wounded in the melee that followed.
April 20, 1999 – Two students armed with guns and explosives carried out an attack at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and leaving 20 people wounded before killing themselves.
April 22, 1970 – An estimated 20 million people turn out for locally-organized environmental educational events promoted by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. Nelson was trying to call attention to the inaction of Congress on environmental issues and inaugurated the first “Earth Day”.
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