Our beloved *Larue St. Clair*, 92, has been in & out of the Auburn hospital the last three months.
He is now at this health care center: *North Brook Heights 170 Murray St. Auburn, NY 13021* He is filled with memories of visitors, friends _/& feathers/_ at MNWR. What a life saver learning about birds was to him after (& since) his wife died about 25 yrs. ago. John & I met him shortly after her death when he showed us our first Tundra swan at Long Point. He was just out riding around to ease his grief & loneliness. Larue & cheery volunteer, Jackie Bakker, worked well together tallying their findings. He knows those days are over for him but he has a keen appreciation of/for the interaction over the years between himself, visitors at the refuge & other birders, young & old. I, personally, am extremely pleased that he lived to see the Lagoon named for him. How much better to let someone know while they're alive that they are loved & appreciated. For sure they won't know when they're gone. Many people saw birds, even life birds, they wouldn't have if he hadn't made the lists & posted them for visitors to see. His sightings & permanent record keeping, aided in the past (??) yrs. by having Jackie to do the driving (& safekeeping) are invaluable contributions to the Refuge. We birders all owe both of them a lot, but especially do we need to give much credit & thanks to Larue. Even if you didn't know him personally, I'm sure he would appreciate getting not get well cards but note cards of cheer, love & appreciation from birders. For those who do know him, he probably would be cheered if you went a few miles out of your way & visited with him a few minutes. "Homes" are lonely places. Thank you for loving him as we do. Fritzie (in Union Springs) -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
