BOAF Bulletin Express

Oasis Sanctuary

By Leslie Boucher

John is My Name by John Lawrence (assisted by Pat Lawrence)

I thought I should write and bring the BOAF membership up to date on my life. I was the beautiful Double Yellow Head Amazon that was the "raffle king" of the 9th Annual BOAF Bird Show on Saturday, September 21, 1996. I remember the date well. I had a "good mother" that was hand feeding me at the time. Her name was Denise McCabe. I fooled her into thinking I still had to be hand fed right to the very end! Thanks Mom #1.

On the afternoon of September 21st the raffle was drawn. I was turned over to the winners, Vic and Pat Lawrence. What happened next should have been on "Funniest Videos". My new owners brought my nice large cage and me to the parking garage. Unfortunately, they had a mid-size car and the cage wouldn’t fit through any of the door openings. Finally, they removed my food and water cups, turned the cage on its side and relocated my perch for the ride home.

Once home, they cleaned the cage and set it on the table in the living room. They were concerned that I might scare the finches. Now, I claim this room as my own and don’t want finches visiting my room. You know how big I can puff up when I see another bird in my room. Well, after they got me settled in they proceeded to discuss the issue of hand feeding me. When they tried it, I played "not interested". They called some of their parrot people. One of them rushed over with a bird scale and tried to hand feed me – still not interested! I even heard my new mom talking to Mom #1 to find out what she fed me and how often. But let me confess that I ate on my own and never ate that baby stuff again.

Now it was time for "name that bird". Several names were thrown out for consideration. My dad came up with the biggest name of all – John Deere Lawrence. He reasoned that I was adorned with the colors of the J. D. tractors and when he won me he was wearing his J. D. tee shirt. Wow! The colors were the same as mine.

I really enjoy living with the Lawrences. When my folks go away, I get to visit Rosemarie Lacroix. If the timing is right, I go in her van with all her parrots. We go down Maine on the beach. What fun!

I guess by now you’ve figured out that I get lots of love, special food and attention. I’m spoiled and love it. I can say quite a few words and even some sentences. I really blow my humans’ minds when I use word correctly in context. They are good to me so I haven’t felt compelled to bite them. I give mom a little nip to let her know she should pay attention to my parrot body language. So far dad is okay; he is my favorite person.

June Bird Mart Raffles

Raffles are one way BOAF raises money to put on the annual show and buy nice prizes for the meetings and events. Please help by selling both books of raffle tickets enclosed with this bulletin. Better yet. After they’re sold, get more from me or Steve Tanner. NOTE: All monies collected for raffle tickets should be sent to the BOAF treasurer, Steve Tanner.

Missing Raffle Prize

Pat and Doug Beardsley won one of the raffle prizes at the spring auction. Unfortunately, they left early and were not there to claim it. Someone volunteered to deliver it to them. Well, they are still waiting! Would the person holding their raffle prize please deliver it to them. Thank you.

Cages STILL needed for our BOAF monthly raffle table

If you can donate a new or used cage for our monthly raffle table, please call Lisa at (603) 622-3874. Please call also if you can sell cages at prices our limited budget can afford.

Secretary’s Report: Meeting of April 13, 1998

Social Event: Birdie Bingo

The meeting was called to order at 7:55 pm by Denise Bourgault. The first order of business was a review of the raffle table and Birdie Bingo prizes. One prize in particular drew a lot of attention — a bottle of wine with a custom BOAF Low Quality Wine label.

Denise requested (pleaded for?) donations for the fall show. They should be given to Roger or Nancy, the show raffle table co-chairs.

The membership approved the directors’ decision to bid for the 2001 National show and use the theme "2001 a Bird Odyssey".

Steve Tanner sold cards and called numbers for the Birdie Bingo. Many members improved their odds of winning by playing multiple cards. He livened things up by varying the games with variations including wild numbers, blocks of nine, requiring all four corners plus Bingo and full cards.

The grand prize winner (a pair of lovebirds with cage) was Victoria Hyde.

Other great prizes included $20 gift certificates to Shop and Save.

After another great raffle and the 50-50 drawing, the meeting was adjourned at 10:05 pm.

Next Directors Meeting

Date: May 18, 1998
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Steve Tanner’s Home

Agenda: This meeting of the Board of Directors will be to review the status of the Summer Pet Mart and the Fall Show. It is open to all members. Please let Steve know in advance if you plan to attend so he will put out enough chairs.

If you are not an Officer or Director, but want to volunteer to help with the a future event, please come to the directors meeting or contact one of them.

If you were at the Kaytee Great American Bird Show last fall, you must have seen the magnificent carvings shown by the noted wood carver Ira Frost. A couple of weeks ago Ira started a carving of Prism, my Green Wing Macaw. This is Ira’s first venture into the carving of Parrots. He is offering special deals to other Parrot owners who allow their birds to pose for him. I’ll keep you advised on the progress of the sculpture.

Where did all the articles go? This month I did not receive any new articles. Please get your pens out and start writing.

Last month I started what I hoped would become a regular feature. It was "Where to See Birds". If you enjoyed seeing a collection of birds somewhere, please share it with the rest of us.

I need articles for the June and subsequent issues. Would anyone like to contribute something?

Although most of the information for the bulletin arrives by e-mail, it doesn’t have to. The U.S. Postal System still delivers mail. I’m trying to include articles from different members. If you have something to be published, give it to me at a meeting or send it to:

Ray Schwartz
19 Olde Common Drive
Atkinson, NH 03810-2177

or e-mail them to editor@boaf.com

or call me at (603) 362-6106

The directors have agreed BOAF will publish announcements promoting other bird club events provided they promote ours. Many members go to shows in Massachusetts, Connecticut or New York. This should make it easier to find them than searching the fine print in the back of Bird Talk magazine.

Do you have any bird related information or announcements you would like published?

Meeting Rules

One of the clubs we exchange bulletins with publishes their meeting rules in their monthly bulletin. Since BOAF often has several disjoint meetings going on at once, I’m reproducing them here.

No smoking in the meeting hall.
Clean up after yourself.
QUIET must be maintained during the business portion of meeting and ESPECIALLY during a speaker’s presentation.
Children must be seated during the meeting and not permitted to run around.

Should BOAF consider meeting rules?

Webmasters Report By Allen Fox

The Breeders List is now on line. If you are on the list and have an e-mail address or web site, pass the information along. I can get it online. If you don’t have a web site and are considering one, or you want to learn more about creating one, you can also send me e-mail or give me a call. If you missed getting on the spring published list, you can still get listed on line by sending me the information at any time over the year. The online addition will be kept current through the year. Authors don’t forget. Send a picture with your article and that picture can appear along with your article in the published bulletin and on the web site for all the world to see. Thanks to Karen for a picture of Ricochet. As always, suggestions are welcome.

Editor’s note: Some members submitted breeders list ads and failed to renew their membership. They will be deleted from additional copies of the listing. Late arriving entries will replace them. An updated list will be published before the fall show. Please send your listing to me and I’ll forward it to Allen. That way no one will be left out. Individual requests for breeders lists will always be filled with the most up to date listing.

Breeder’s List Update

The 1998 Breeders List was sent out with this bulletin mailing. Finally! It was only sent to the breeders listed in it and to members who requested it. I can make additional copies if you’d like one and didn’t get it. Please fill out the coupon below and send or give it to me.

If you want to add a listing, or change your listing, in the fall revision of the 1998 Breeders Directory, please supply the updated information by mid September. Listings will be updated immediately upon receipt.

Report on Directors Meeting - April 20, 1998.

Denise Bourgault called the meeting to order at 7:40 pm. Looking ahead to the fall show, possible raffle prizes were discussed. Yours truly, who was volunteered as show chairperson, suggested a new LLadro porcelain figurine of a Citron Crested Cockatoo. We agreed to investigate a lower cost prize.

I reported that order forms for the Brecks bulbs had arrived. They will be distributed at the May meeting.

Summer bird/pet mart arrangements were confirmed. All donations will be placed on a BOAF table. A volunteer will be recruited to sell them for the club.

The directors decided to renew BOAF’s affiliation with other avian societies. The BOAF delegates are:

Directors Meeting Report continued

AFA - Denise Bourgault
NCS - Denise Bourgault
ALBS - Susan Fellows
NFSS - Lisa Armitage

The directors confirmed BOAF’s desire to bid for the 2001 National Show using the theme "2001 a Bird Odyssey" A presentation will be made this fall in Chicago. Should the bid be successful, we consider sites in addition to the Holiday Inn in an effort to save money for the club. Perhaps another hotel, or relocating to Nashua, would be less costly. Site suggestions are welcomed.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.