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Spring 2010 Meeting at Winston-Salem, NCApril 30–May 2, 2010 |
Lucy Quintilliano & Ron Clark
You won't want to miss our spring meeting in Winston-Salem. Although our base of operation is in the Piedmont, we will have full-day field trips to the Blue Ridge Parkway for those who can't resist the mountains during spring migration. Other full-day trips will explore New River State Park and Hanging Rock State Park and the surrounding areas. If you prefer birding at close-by venues in beautiful city parks surrounded by historic structures, flower gardens, wildflowers and century-old trees, sign up for one of several half-day options. Our local CBC members and our friends from The Audubon Society of Forsyth County will take us to their favorite rural birding hot spots outside of town where the habitat is much different than the wooded parks and greenways around town. For a change of pace, spend an afternoon at a local winery enjoying a gourmet lunch, local wines, and grounds featuring wildflowers and butterflies. There is clearly something for everyone!
All field trips except the winery tour are limited to 15 participants, so register early to get your choice of outings. Be sure to indicate your first and second choices on your registration form.
For those wanting to check out Old Salem or one of the many other attractions in the Winston-Salem area, the hotel will provide brochures and directions for your convenience.
Join fellow CBC members Friday evening for a banquet at our host hotel. We will have a great selection of menu items including vegetarian options. The price is $20/person (including tax and gratuity), and sign up is included on the registration form. After dinner, John Sill, nationally acclaimed wildlife artist, illustrator and author, will tell us about his birding adventures as he teaches us how to draw a bird. You may think you are not artistic, but he has refined his teaching method to work even on those of us with zero talent. Read more about him at www.johnsill.com.
Saturday evening The Audubon Society of Forsyth County will host a reception at our hotel. While enjoying light snacks and desserts, we will have a freeform and free-wheeling event called “The Well Equipped Birder”. Come see what fellow CBC members have and use to optimize their birding experience. See the latest and greatest equipment and gear, including binoculars, scopes, tripods, cameras, digiscoping, iPods/Birdjam, iTouch/iPhone, books, DVDs/CDs, software and who knows what else. If you have something you think is great, bring it to “show and tell”. We will set up like an expo—no program or presentations, just one-on-one conversations between fellow birders.
Our headquarters will be The Village Inn at exit 184 off I-40, Lewisville-Clemmons Rd. Directions are available on the hotel's website. The hotel is centrally located for our field trips and was totally renovated just three years ago. The special CBC room rate, double or single, is $74 plus tax, which includes a full hot breakfast starting at 6:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Call 800-554-6416 or 336-766-9121 to book your room. The reservation deadline is April 5th. Rooms and rates cannot be guaranteed after this date, so be sure to reserve before the deadline. Note—there are no elevators in this two-story hotel, so reserve early if you need a first floor room. And don't wait to register for the meeting if you want to get your choice of field trips.
See you in Winston-Salem!