Saturday 9/20/08

Happy Anniversary Malheur!
Today was the 100th Anniversary Party for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Last night a dinner was help at the Black Bear Restaurant for present and former employees and volunteers. About 100 folks were there. It was a fun evening meeting people who were part of the history of the refuge. Carla put on a great slide program about the history and development of the area and the refuge. On the way back to the refuge, we were treated with a spetacular lightning show to light our way.
Today dawned mostly cloudy with forecasts of dubious weather ahead. There were a lot of things going on at the HQ early in the morning to get things set-up, tables, sound systems, posters, etc. Eveyone chipped in the things went smoothly. There was the unvieling of the brass statue of a little girl with a pair of binoculars gazing out over the pond. The statue was a gift from the Friends of Malheur. Very sweet.
Then there was the dedication of the time capsule. Some of the things R&I picked up in Burns were for the capsule; a cell phone, a bird stamp, an Oregon quarter were some of the items. People were also encouraged to write down their thoughts and memories on sheets of paper and they were included. After the dedication there were a couple of presentations by the Bird Center of Idaho (birds of prey) which I would have liked to see, but R& I headed out to the ranch to get it set up for visitors. The original plan was to have things outside, but the weather changed that for us. R directed kids in making cattle brands and I gave tours of the ranch. The weather worsened during the day and we had rain and wind most of the late morning and afternoon. A group brought six llamas to show and give kids rides. A lady came and did spinning in the ranch office too, so there was a lot going on and everyone had a great time in spite of the weather. After we locked up the ranch, we went back to the trailer and got dry and warm clothing on and went to the Narrows RV Park for an outdoor BBQ. It was still windy and cold but with warm clothes and lots a friendly people, we had a fun, tiring day.