Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy People and Wildlife Living in Harmony |
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Loudoun Wildlife Fest 2008 - A Great Success
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| After Event Report: |
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June 8, 2008 No two ways about it....the day started out to be one of the hottest of the season. But this didn't deter almost 250 people who came out to learn about local amphibians and enjoy the cool tunes of 5 great bluegrass bands! This year we wanted to showcase the diversity of amphibian species here in Loudoun County and had Reptiles Alive bring an educational display and live animals for kids and adults to check out. There were Pickerel frogs, Gray Tree frogs, a great big Bull Frog, a Red Eft, a Wood Frog, an American Toad and other fine friends. |
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We also had our table set up with a great book raffle, t-shirts for sale and delcious fresh strawberries striaght from a local Loudoun farm that folks enjoyed for a bit of refreshment. Those who made donations were also entered into a raffle to win some great books! Winners of the raffle were: |
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At about 5:30, the bands started up. The sun was pretty hot but people managed to find some shade near the stage. We had the Bluemont Concert Series on site running the sound and it was really professional. |
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We have a lot of thanks to give to Apple House Contracting/Phil Bzdyk for providing materials and the generator and for building the stage. It was good and solid and we're glad for that! The first band to play was the Stringsmiths and they drew people right down to the lawn to start toe tapping. |
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| We had a full line-up of bands for the evening so after about 45 minutes, we gave the Stringsmiths a break and One Horse Town plugged in and sang some great tunes. |
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| Next Andrew McKnight took to the stage. He sang about wildlife and the environment and the importance of being good stewards. We thank him for sending out this important message. |
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| As Andrew played, the kids had a great time running around and exploring the wild places of the Blue Ridge Center..... |
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| .....while the rest of us sat back and enjoyed the tunes. |
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| The night started to cool and then a storm rolled through. From all reports in was a serious downpour about 5 miles away (as the crow flies) in Hillsboro but here at the Blue Ridge Center, we just heard the clapping of thunder and benefited from the cold front as the night cooled down to the 80s and then the 70s. |
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| The Acoustic Burgoo then took the stage and played both some of their own songs (such as the Naked Song and Poison Ivy) which were really fun and some other covers. |
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| Closing out the night was Dirty River playing past 10pm for us and really bringing the sounds of the blue ridge to life. |
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Many thanks to all the people who helped pull this together. It's a lot of work but wow what a great time! Our thanks goes out to: Helen VanRyzin who organized many of the logistics and led the effort from the LWC side of things and Melissa Wright and Ben Walters for organizing the bands. Thanks also to Allison Young, Rudy Bzdyk, Michelle Stulga, Libby Bachman, Andrew Sedlins, Shawna DeWitt and Attilla Agoston at the Blue Ridge Center, Kate Gentry, Joey Villiari, Katie Wolcott, Paul Miller, Mark Meudt and his son, Phil Daley, Nicole Hamilton for their work before and during the event. We also appreciate the support from Mr.Print who printed the posters and fliers and Jay Votel for providing Loudoun Wildlife Fest t-shirts. A special thanks also goes to the Warren & MaryLou Hayford Foundation which donated the $1600 to Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy to under write the event and enable all of the proceeds to go directly back into our programs. |