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2015 Annual Meeting, Saturday, January 23, 2016, 10 AM to 2 PM
Trinity Presbyterian Church, 725 S. High St., Harrisonburg.
Please plan to bring a hot or cold dish or beverage, suitable for brunch. We will eat first, from 10 to 11am, then have short reports and vote for the next board. After that, we can eat the rest of the food!
We have a fantastic speaker coming, Steven David Johnson! Steven is an Eastern Mennonite University department chair and associate professor in visual and communication arts. He teaches conservation photography. Widely published, you have probably seen some of his fabulous photos of wildlife. In the past he has generously helped photo document our Annual Wildflower Walks, amphibian night at Hone Quarry with Billy Flint, and Cooks Creek Arboretum tree-tagging dedication. On January 23, he will let us in on the beauty and magic of "Life in a Vernal Pool" as seen through his photography, from about 12:30 to 1:30pm.
Please contact Ann Murray to confirm that you will attend. We will need help setting up and cleaning up, so if you can help with that, plan to come at 9:30am or stay until 2:30pm and let Ann know. - Ann Murray, HMN Programs Chair, meadowspringsfarm@gmail.com, 540-363-5304.
You can also "register" to attend by clicking the "volunteer" button for this event on the General Event Calendar in our VMN VMS site.
Although the church address is S. High St. (VA Route 42), parking and building entrances are off of Maryland Ave. which runs perpendicular to S. High St.
Inclement weather date is Saturday, January 30, same time, same place.
 Book Sale
Recycle your naturalist-related books at the Annual Meeting book sale. Please bring any books and/or other naturalist-related items that you would like to donate. We will also have a 50/50 raffle to raise money for projects. Consider volunteering to be our shopkeeper for the book sale and raffle at the meeting. Contact Ann Murray.
 Planetarium
The John C. Wells Planetarium on the James Madison University campus hosts free public shows, Saturdays at 2:15pm and 3:30pm. At 91 E. Grace St., it is less than a mile from Trinity Church. Consider heading over after the meeting to check out the facility and show. Scheduled on Jan. 23 is: To Space and Back.
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Upcoming this month ...
 Bird Migration, Thursday, January 7, 7PM, Detwiler Auditorium, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Center, 1501 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg. Presentation by Jerry Via, Instructor, Virginia Tech College of Science, for the Rockingham Bird Club monthly meeting.
 Climate Change Communication Webinar, Wednesday, January 20, 12-1PM. Presented by Sarah Nuss, Education Coordinator, Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. More info and link to join webinar here.
 HMN 2015 Annual Meeting, Saturday, January 23, 10AM-2PM, Trinity Presbyterian Church, 725 S. High St., Harrisonburg. Details above.
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An Ambitious Project Proposal: Can We Do This?
 Braley Pond, Paul State Forest, and the JMU Arboretum are among the 27 sites along the three loops of the VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Birding & Wildlife Trail (VBWT) which lie within the Headwaters Chapter service area. DGIF is asking all the master naturalist chapters in Virginia to consider adopting the VBWT loops within their areas to seasonally monitor for wildlife and help keep information about their sites up to date.
 It's an ambitious project but offers the challenge of using many naturalist skills including collaborating with like-minded groups to complete the checklists. Learn all about it here (and check out Carl's great map) then let the Projects Committee know what you think about our chapter signing on. Can we do this? Are you in? Contact Sandy Greene, greenes104@aol.com.
Photo above by Matt Meyer from the HMN Wildflower Walk at Braley Pond, April 2015.
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Learning about Weather and Climate
 On December 15, 2015, Headwaters Chapter members Kate Guenther and Malcolm Cameron gave a lively presentation at the Bridgewater Public Library on the basics of weather on our planet, recording weather observations, and about climate and how it’s changing.
More from Malcolm about this presentation here.
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Christmas Count
 For me, I am like a kid waiting for Christmas morning when it comes to the annual Christmas Bird Count. The anticipation with getting up early… 4ish or so to go owling, wondering what will we see, record number birds, record bird sightings, etc. … all of it is wrapped up in excitement!!!
More from Penny Warren about the Augusta Bird Club CBC here.
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Waynesboro Natural History Museum Update
 The Virginia Museum of Natural History is one of seven state agencies which are sponsors of the Virginia Master Naturalist program. The Museum is located in Martinsville, VA, far south of the Headwaters Chapter service area. Plans for a regional branch of the museum to be located in Waynesboro are moving along. Thanks to Kate Guenther for calling our attention to this news from the December 9, 2015, News Virginian: Museum officials select Constitution Park site, reported by Brian Carlton.
"As for what that museum will look like, the plan calls for a building similar to the Danville Science Center, about 21,850 square feet, with 10,000 square feet of exhibit space. The remaining space would be used for research, educational purposes and staff offices. That includes a zoology exhibit that would focus on the wildlife found in the Valley and Blue Ridge area like the Big Levels Salamander, a species found only in Augusta County. A paleontology and geology exhibit would focus on the early life and formation of the Shenandoah Valley, while there would be an open lab area where museum visitors could watch scientists cleaning fossils and building plaster casts and a play area for younger children to explore science, including a cave area, a dinosaur dig site and possibly a stream running through."
This could prove to be a great playground for our Chapter!
Photo credit: James St. John, Flickr Creative Commons, CC BY 2.0
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 There will be NO third Thursday January Headwaters Chapter Board of Directors meeting.
You can look forward to hearing reports from each of our officers and committee chairs at the January 23, 2016, Annual Meeting. We will also hold a vote on a slate of candidates to fill all board positions. The candidate list will be made available at least ten days before the meeting. Watch your email boxes for this.
Our Chapter Board meeting minutes can be found in the Documents section of the VMN Volunteer Management System.
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 HMN newsletter and website content submissions are always appreciated!
Please send them to Adrie. Newsletter item deadlines are generally the last day of the month for the next month's issue.
 Wind your way HERE to view our calendar of Naturalist-related events in our area. Contact Adrie if you know of events to add to the calendar.
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