2019 Annual Fundraising Dinner

Come to Dinner! An Invitation to Gather

with guest speakers Diane Yorgason-Quinn and Rachel Hudson
at the South Puget Sound Community College Student Union Building
4:30 PM: Social time, cash bar and sale/raffle perusal*
5:30 Catered dinner begins
*All proceeds from raffle ticket sales and experience sign-ups help support BHAS education and conservation programs.

Dinner

Each dinner is $45 per person and includes salad, rolls, dessert, tea or coffee, and ice water. Wine and beer can be purchased for $5 per drink. Soft drinks and water are available for free.

The College’s culinary class caterers, who served us so well last year, will again create dinner choices for most tastes and dietary needs. This year you can choose from 3 dishes:

• Smoked Chicken Lasagna
• Grilled Salmon, lemon-dill sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, vegetables
• Delicata squash with roasted red peppers, rice, lentils, mushrooms, brussel sprouts

Registration for the dinner closes February 23.

Raffle

As has become a winning tradition, we will again feature several attractive raffle “packages” for bidding to add suspense to the evening. Sale items will focus on “events and experiences,” such as boat, kayak or bicycle trips, guided birding adventures, dinners for you and friends, stays at mountain cabins, and the like. If you have an idea for something to offer, please contact Deb Nickerson at debranick@nullgmail.com. And thank you! This gala night is the major fundraiser for Black Hills, to support our library backpack project and conservation advocacy work. With your help we can make a difference in our communities. There will be an opportunity to contribute directly to these worthy programs at the dinner.

Recognizing Achievements

The evening affords the perfect opportunity to hear about our accomplishments and plans for upcoming activities and initiatives. It is also the time we formally acknowledge extraordinary work and achievements of dedicated members with awards named for long-time local activists Dave McNett, for Environmental Educator of the Year, and Jack Davis, for the Conservationist of the Year.

Featured Speakers

Larry Schwitters will not be available to give us a presentation on Swifts at our dinner, but he has done the next-best thing by recommending two other speakers active in the Swift community in our area. Diane Yorgason-Quinn works closely with Larry and can incorporate his remarks with her own, drawn from her abundant experiences documenting Swift seasonal migration numbers and coordinating the JBLM program. She represented the United States last year at the international Swift conference held in Tel Aviv. She is an active member of Audubon in Tacoma. Also bringing us Swift news and stories of local activism will be Rachel Hudson who has discovered a new roosting site in Chehalis for Swifts. She spends her time counting and documenting their presence there, sure to be an encouraging development for us all. A big Thank You to Larry and a warm welcome to our new featured speakers, Diane and Rachel!

For more information on the work for Swift conservation, visit the website.  Anyone witnessing the incredible swirl of birds descending into a chimney at dusk never forgets the tense excitement of this natural wonder. We look forward to an evening of good news and signs of increasing awareness of this little-known bird.

Want to print a paper form and mail in your check? Print form here.