November 30, 2015

Dear Friends,

2016 will be an important year for Birdsong. April of this new year will mark its 30th anniversary as a nature center. Great efforts have been underway to get the old place spruced up for the celebratory year. Thanks to generous donations from members and the thoughtful work of our painters and workers, the house has been repaired and painted. Our gardeners have restored the gardens around the house, pruning overgrown leggy shrubs, digging up invasive plants, and opening up the paths and distant vistas. Once again the view from the Bird Window is breathtaking.

It is fitting that early in the anniversary year, 17 acres of longleaf pine tree seedlings will be planted as the final stage in a three year wildlife habitat improvement project. A series of agonizing decisions had to be made for this to happen: how to manage the brutal clearing process; would an application of herbicides be necessary, and which ones would be the least dangerous; whether to plant the trees in rows for easy monitoring, or at random for a more natural look.

These projects have been typical of the kind of delicate and difficult management Birdsong has so successfully balanced for the past thirty years -- when to preserve and when to improve, when to maintain and when to advance, when to accept and appreciate the land for its interesting evolution through centuries of use, and when to take a drastic step to reestablishing something magnificent.

That embryo forest in what was an old bahia grass pasture can also stand as a fitting symbol of Birdsong's optimism for its next thirty years. No one plants a tree without hope for the future.

Please visit Birdsong often in this special year to take part in the expanded educational programs, to celebrate the anniversary at little festive events in each season, and to watch the progress of the little trees from a straggly few needles and fragile tiny clump of roots to a healthy, shining fountain of green. And most important of all, please make an investment in Birdsong's hope for the future with an end of year donation.

The Birdsong Board of Directors and I invite you to join us in making such an end-of-year gift. Our goal, with your help, is to raise $45,000 by December 31st. The entire Board and staff have each donated generously and $15,000 or 1/3 of the goal has already been attained. We are relying on you to make this year’s goal a reality and to help Birdsong enter the new year thriving.

Your gift will be used to make sure that this meaningful place will be here for future generations, a wild and beautiful place, where nature is a priority.

Sincerely,

June Bailey White
Past President and Plant Sale Chair

P.S. Birdsong is a 501(c)3 corporation, so your gift is entirely tax-deductible. Please check with your bank or credit card company for a monthly deduction program, which can make a monthly gift automatic. Your business may have a matching gift program that can enable you to increase the value of your contribution.

Every gift matters; every gift is a vote of support. We deeply appreciate your participation.

If you would like to make a donation to Birdsong, please see our Donations page for information.

 
You may also enjoy reading others of June's beautifully written letters. Below is a list from which 2011-2014 appeal letters can be selected.

2014 Annual Appeal Letter, a story of community and an iconic Shortleaf pine tree.

2013 Annual Appeal Letter and the story of the persevering Louis Philippe rose.

2012 Annual Appeal Letter, the story of early Birdsong scientists and the lesson of the wood storks.

2011 Annual Appeal Letter and the story of the three little cranberry muffins.