Volunteers of the Year!

Congratulations to Sherry Massie, Dennis Weeks, and Deb Vath for their recognition as Tucson Bird Alliance's 2013 Volunteers of the Year!

In the current issue of the Vermilion Flycatcher, you can read all about Dennis, Sherry, and Deb's amazing contributions to the birds and communities of our region, but with three volunteers to recognize in the Flycatcher, that didn't leave much room to highlight anything else about these stellar volunteers. So, here's an addendum to that feature!

Dennis Weeks

Dennis Weeks and his wife, Bonnie (who is also a star Tucson Bird Alliance volunteer!), started volunteering with Tucson Bird Alliance a couple of years ago, when they moved to Tucson from Washington. They had been devoted volunteers at the shop of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in Olympia prior to making the move, and when they came to Tucson, the fit seemed a natural one. Dennis thinks Tucson Bird Alliance is a great place to make friends and meet people, too!

The first time Dennis and Bonnie went birding was in 1999, and they haven’t looked back. The fateful event occurred at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Now, their favorite place to go birding is Madera Canyon. It’s close, relaxing, there is a wide elevation range, and they can bring their dogs too!

Sherry Massie

In Sherry's words: I got started with TBA through my neighbor, Sherry Kistler. I had done some birding with Sherry and also some of the TBA weekly trips. She mentioned a couple of years ago that the then current librarian was thinking about retiring and the society was looking for someone else to fill in. The timing was perfect, because I needed a project to put my mind to at that time. Plus I’ve always been impressed by TBA’s focus on conservation and legislative issues. I was lucky to have TBA's enthusiastic staff to back the project, and three excellent volunteers (Hal Myers, Olga Habour, and Carol Eagle) to help with the processing once the cataloging was completed. 

I wish I had a birdy experience; I just haven’t been birding much lately! Last night I had two great horned owls wake me up at 1:30am hooting back and forth to each other on my roof. Quite a nice wake-up, but once they left, I had to find my way back to sleep! Not much of a story!

Deb Vath

Deb Vath is a retired teacher from the Sunnyside school district, and her passion for youth birding led to an increased engagement with Tucson Bird Alliance. A few years ago, Deb and another Deb from Sunnyside, began exploring what a youth birding program would look like for Billy Lane Lauffer middle school in conjunction with Tucson Bird Alliance. From that fateful first exploration grew the SASUN (Sunnyside Audubon Student Urban Naturalists) program and many more volunteer experiences.

Deb birds all around and will enthusiastically go birding with those young and old. You can often find her at the local hotspot, Sweetwater Wetlands, where she leads family and beginner bird walks.