Support and Sponsors – Page 11 – Birds of Vermont Museum

April 12, 2011

Interns and Volunteers Welcome — and needed!

The Birds of Vermont Museum bustles with activity all year long but the pace really picks up during our regular season from May through October. We can always use extra hands around here! We welcome and appreciate your skills, interests, ideas, and elbow grease, and have a number of ways you can help.

As an intern you might find yourself helping regularly with general museum operations, such as introducing the Museum to visitors and working in the gift shop. In addition, Museum interns work closely with staff members on filling and maintaining the feeders, documenting or cataloging Museum property, assisting with memberships or publicity, write press releases or blog entries, assist with school groups or childrens’ programs, creating supplemental exhibits, or providing outdoor trail or garden work. Interns also develop and pursue a special project according to their interests, one which will enhance the Museum experience for our visitors. Internships may also earn academic credit, depending on the needs and programs at your school, college, or university.

As a volunteer you might serve as a docent for the Museum’s visitors, including introducing the video and handling admissions and gift shop purchases, help with outdoor trail maintenance and signage or painting chores, research and update species’ information cards, help with mailings, write articles for our Chip Notes newsletter, monitor and post bird population stats, participate in bird and nature events, donate native plants for our interpretive (and growing!) garden spaces, help post publicity flyers for upcoming events, and more!!

Please take a look at our website for more information. Interns are asked to complete an application process. Volunteers can contact us right away to set up a work assignment.

You do not have to be a member to intern or volunteer! You don’t have to know about birds or woodcarving either, but we hope you’ll want to learn a bit about both.

Call (802) 434-2167 or e-mail (interns should review the internship information page on our website first). Thanks!

March 26, 2011

Hope

Signs of spring around the Museum

Daffodils coming up
Red-winged Blackbirds
Common Grackles
The increase of songs from Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, and Brown Creepers
The donation of picnic tables to be used to eat lunch outside by the Pre-tech 1 at the Center for Technology Essex (Thank you!)

Signs that spring is still far away

The four foot snow bank outside the viewing window

March 23, 2011

Dick Allen, Contributing Carver

Dick Allen at work on a new carving for the Museum

Dick Allen has always been fascinated by birds and started carving about 25 years ago. He is self-taught through books and carving magazines, with “lots of trial and error”. His carvings have been given to friends and family; some have been donated to charity. Many are on display in his home.

Dick considers himself an advanced amateur, and greatly admires Bob Spears’ work. “Bob is a master carver,” Dick says. About his own carvings, he adds, “I’m still waiting for one I consider ‘really good.’ ”

About Dick

In addition to carving for the Museum’s exhibits, Dick serves on the Board of Trustees, and volunteers for the Museum. His work is much appreciated.

To see more photos of Dick’s work, check out his page on our website: http://birdsofvermont.org/dickallen.php

March 8, 2011

Brush-wielders, Picture-unhangers, and more: Thanks!

Painting in the Light — Bill M paints the balcony facing

A great big shout-out thank you to the volunteers and staff that made our March 5th Painting Party busy, cheerful, and incredibly successful.

We had more than the usual number of volunteers (some even came a day or more early to help prep) , and much more was accomplished. The museum is cleaner and fresher. We went through three and a half gallons of paint, and wow, can we tell! We’ve also taken the opportunity to refresh both what’s on our walls and where we’ve put it, so be sure to come by and admire the results.

All told, we logged over 50 hours of volunteer time. THANK YOU!

March 6, 2011

Northeast Delta Dental Sponsors our Newsletter

Many thanks to Northeast Delta Dental for their recent generous donation. Since 2005, they have helped the Birds of Vermont Museum by supporting our thrice-yearly newsletter.

Jeff Landa of Northeast Delta Dental, presents their support — Jeff Landa, of Northeast Delta Dental, presents a check to support our newsletter, Chip Notes.

Jeffrey Landa, a former Board of Trustees member and Board President who also serves on the Museum Advisory Board, dropped by last week to bring us this good news. Shirley Johnson, President of the Board of Trustees, and Erin Talmage, Executive Director, were here to accept it.

We will use these funds to cover printing and mailing costs of Chip Notes. Older editions are made available online as PDF files; if you would like to receive current ones by mail, become a member!

February 28, 2011

Painting Party at the museum

A volunteer preps for painting, Spring 2010. This year should be somewhat lower down!

Join our Painting Party on March 5th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Help us paint part of the museum. Lunch will be provided.

Please let us know you’re coming so we can feed you! Call us at 802 434-2167 or email us at museum@ birdsofvermont. org. You can find driving directions to the museum on our website, at http:// birdsofvermont.org/ map.php

Free.
Appropriate for teen and adult volunteers–we thank you!

February 19, 2011

Bob Spear, Master Woodcarver, turns 91!

Bob carving on his Florida porch. Photo ©2011 Gale Lawrence; used by permission.

Bob Spear, Master Woodcarver and Founding Director of the Birds of Vermont Museum, turns 91 on February 21st!

In 1979, he started a collection of bird carvings in hopes of someday establishing a location where people could come to see them and learn about birds. Bob is still carving and the Museum will open this spring with over 500 birds!

We like as many excuses for birthday cake as possible, so we plan to celebrate Bob’s birthday again in the summer when it is sunny and warm. Watch the Museum’s calendar of events for details.

Many people have already donated $91 to the Museum to honor Bob on his birthday. The Museum greatly appreciates these donations. For those wishing to make a donation in honor of Bob, please send a check to

Birds of Vermont Museum
900 Sherman Hollow Road
Huntington, VT 05462

Thank you!!

A Little History

Bob’s first carving was completed in 1938 when he carved a parakeet with just a penknife. This carving is on display at the Museum. He is also the author of the book, The Birds of Vermont, published in 1969 by the Green Mountain Audubon Society. In 1962 he was active in establishing the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington and served as its first director for seven years. In 1987 the Birds of Vermont Museum opened, finally showcasing the collection he’d started in 1979. In addition to creating all the bird carvings on display, Spear also built the museum building and all the display cases. At the time of the opening, the museum housed only 231 bird carvings.

The length of time required for Spear to complete a carving varies widely, depending on the size of the bird. The Wild Turkey carving required 1,230 hours, while a small warbler might take only 20 hours. Can you identify the bird he’s working on above?

For more information about Bob’s accomplishments see http://www.birdsofvermont.org/carver.php

February 14, 2011

2011 Annual Art Contest opens

Enter Your Bird Art!

2011 Art Contest Rules

This competition is open to persons aged 0 – 18 years old.
The theme of the contest is Birds, Birds, Birds.
Flat submissions (paper, collage, etc.) must be no larger than 8 ½” x 11”
3-D art must be smaller than 6”x 6”x 8”.
One entry per person.
Name, age and contact information must be included with entry.
Contestants may use any media.
Past entries (and winners) have used paint, colored pencils, crayons, markers, clay, wood, or papier-mâché.
Entries must be received no later than September 30, 2011.
Please drop off or mail entries to
Birds of Vermont Museum
900 Sherman Hollow Road
Huntington, Vermont 05462
All entries will be displayed at the museum throughout the 2011 season, so enter early!

Judging

More great entries in our 2009 Art Contest

First, second, and honorable mention prizes will be awarded in the following categories (most are age-based):

5 years and younger
6 – 8 years
9 – 13 years
14 – 18 years
3-D Art

Winners

Winners will be announced at the Museum at our Fall Festival, Saturday October 8, 2011.

Winning entries will be displayed (with artist and parent approval) on the BOVM website or our Facebook page after the festival.

Entries may be picked up at the Museum after Nov. 1, 2011.

Art Content 2010 Winners

You saw the rules. You saw the preview. You saw last year’s results and the Letter to Young Artists. Now, finally, you can find out Who won in 2010?

Wall of collages and patterned flying birds — Art Contest Entries

Our 2010 wining artists are:

Age 0-5: Melody B, Lily K, Kenny F, Anna P, Olivia O
Ages 6-8: Noah B, Cooper H, Jake B, Petra B, Celeste B
Ages 9-13: Lena H, Anna-Sophie S, Lexi P, Amanda G, Kate O
Ages 14-18: Christina H, Lindsay F, Hannah G

And some special categories:

Sculpture (3-D): Shannon H, Allison G, Alexander U, Hannah D, Melissa A
Collage (First Graders): Kameron C, Mary M, Cater F, Ian M
Flying Patterned Birds: Will P, Nicholas M, Caroline S, Caleb R, Carter S, Myiah D
3-Dimensional Flying Foil Birds: Makenna T, Isaac D, Jackson E, Shannon H, Amy L, Kyle D

We had a few “Specials” (these are at the Judge’s discretion and change from year to year):

Georgia W for “Best Kestrel”; Clementine for “Cutest Penguin”; Lily for “best Mallard”; Leola A for “Cutest Couple”; Kenny for “Best Cardinal”; Aziana H for “Best Happy Owl”, and David A for “Best Woodpecker”

Art on the walls: so much art! — So much art! We nearly covered our viewing window area walls.

For more images, check out our album at Facebook. Feel free to leave comments here or there.