157 people attended our 2009 Annual Dinner on March 20 at the Mile Square Park Banquet Center. Many people commented on how much they liked the new location, the close proximity of the parking area, the nice way the room was set up to accommodate our group, the beautiful flower arrangements on the tables by Gretchen McCausland, and the delicious food. Everyone enjoyed the social hour before dinner with the no-host bar and the opportunity to look at the displays and make the rounds at the Silent Auction tables where a large number of interesting items were so artfully laid out by Cheryl Thomas.

Dick Zembal received the Fern Zimmerman Conservation Award and Letters of Commendation were presented to Scott Ferguson, Erin Wilson, and Ken Corey. The Gallagher Award was presented to Doug Willick. All of us enjoyed Paul Lehman’s program on “Migrant and Vagrant Traps in North America.” It was definitely a memorable evening! The following morning, Paul presented a very interesting workshop on “Weather and Bird Migration.”

We would like to thank all the people who worked together to make this event such a success. The unstinting efforts of Cheryl Thomas’s work on the Silent Auction deserves special recognition. Organizing the auction was a big undertaking and Cheryl began planning for it 11 months in advance, putting in many long hours on the project. Thank you, Cheryl, for doing such a great job!