Please come to the Birds of Vermont Museum for Volunteer Work Day!
On Saturday, April 26, from 9am – 2pm, please help prepare the Museum for the open season. From trail work to hanging art, we have opportunities for all. Come for an hour or all day, bring yourself, a friend, a family. All welcome.
Please let us know if you plan to come so we can provide lunch for everyone. Call (802) 434-2167 or email museum@birdsofvermont.org
Thanks!
If you can’t come this day, please consider a couple of hours, a day, a weekly rotation, or something else! Whether you are out in the meadow, helping visitors at the front desk, or deep in the office, we would love your company and assistance. We train, too.
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Birds of Vermont Museum
900 Sherman Hollow Road • Huntington, VT 05462
(802) 434-2167 • museum@birdsofvermont.org • http://www.birdsofvermont.org
Got some time to volunteer? We’re looking for you, whether you have an hour, a day, or a week. Take a look at the days of needs below, and let us know if you might be able to help on one or more of these days.
Note: There’s always a staff member or very experienced volunteer with you if you’re new, no one needs to work alone! Also, these time slots are suggested; we will happily work with your schedule.
Fabulous Fall Festival Saturday, October 13 • 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Live birds, music, soap and wood carving, kids’ crafts, face painting, and more! $2 / Free if you are 3 and under or show your Museum or Green Mountain Woodcarver membership card
Our schedule of events (but check when you get here to be sure): 10:00 Carving Workshop : Spirit faces in bark (2 hours; $10 fee but this includes all-day admission also)
11:00 Soap Carving
11:00 Live Music by Northeast Field (terrific Celtic music)
1:00 Live Bird Talk
2:00 Soap Carving
2:15 Face Painting
3:00 Nature Note cards
3:59 Announcing Winner of the Kids Raffle
All Day / Ongoing:
Admire the Art Contest Entries and discover the Winners (Pick up your ribbon and prize if it’s you)
Used Books and Other Treasures Sale
Explore the Museum (can you find all 535 eggs? Did we count right?)
Get a ticket for a Raffle: Kids Raffle (Saturday only) and Decoy Raffle (winner announced October 31)
Scavenger Hunts
Nature Quests
Live birds at our feeders, in the woods, in the meadoews
Snacks available for sale
Yet more games and crafts
Walking trails (have you found the pond? The stone wall? The new bench? All the items on the Unnatural Trail?)
Help us prepare the Museum for the 2012 open season! Do windows, clean nest boxes, spruce up trails (weather permitting), prepare handouts for visitors and school groups, add bird data to online databases, and much more.
We provide lunch! Please let us know you’re coming: call (802) 434-2167 or email museum@birdsofvermont.org
Take a break between sampling one of Vermont’s best sweet treats and come learn about the birds that nest on maple trees and use the sugarbush to raise their young.
We have some great opportunities coming up, but we need some help to take advantage of them. Could you volunteer for 2-4 hours on any of the following days and locations? All towns are in Vermont, and unless noted, we seek volunteers between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. (your choice of hours). You could be company for a staff member, hand out museum information, provide demonstrations, share flyers, and more—there will always be someone to make sure you are comfortable. Of course, if there is some other time and date good for you, by all means, let us know.
If you can help, please email us or call us (802) 434-2167.
Thank you!
Out and About:
Saturday 8/20
Morrisville
Green Mountain Woodcarvers Annual Rendezvous
Help staff our booth
Saturday 8/20
Burlington
Amtrak’s 40th Anniversary Whistle Stop
Help staff a table
Saturday 9/17
Shelburne
Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival
Help staff our booth
Saturday 9/24 and/or Sunday 9/25
Woodstock
Woodworkers Festival
Help with carving demonstrations or staff the booth during them
Saturday 10/1
Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area (Addison)
Dead Creek Wildlife Day
Help with the booth, soap carving, birding tips
Go Wild, Go Birding! International Migratory Bird Day Festival at the Birds of Vermont Museum
Join us at our annual Bird Day Festival, celebrating migratory birds. This is a free, community-wide event co-sponsored by Audubon Vermont and the Birds of Vermont Museum. Events start at 8 am, and go until 4 pm (trails close at sunset).
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.
Leading Nature Walks
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.
Maintaining Museum Resources
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!
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.
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!
