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A Great Year is past... 

          2010 was a a year of progress and growth for your Friends Group.

• By the end of the year we numbered 281 members, including 11 Life Memberships.
•  We had a successful membership meeting and added new faces to our Board of Directors.
• We planned and participated in the Grand Opening of the new Savannah NWR Visitor Center and staff the Information Desk.
• We set up, stocked, and operated The Gator Hole, the nature and book store within the new VC which is now generating income for the Friends.
• We co-sponsored our first "Saturday at the Refuge" crafts day for kids in December at Savannah NWR.
   
• We held our first members-only Field Trip and cook-out as part of Refuge Week at Harris Neck NWR in October.
• We welcomed our first RV campers to Savannah NWR, and currently have three couples camping there.
• We joined with the Fish & Wildlife Service to do habitat rehab on Tomkins Island and saw a big increase in the number of nesting terns there.
• We also partnered with the Service to obtain grants for invasive species education and control and held a successful public workshop on invasive species
• We reviewed the facts of the Harris Neck Land Trust issue and many members voiced their opinions about it to their elected representatives.
• We installed a collection box for donations at Pinckney Island NWR and contributed many hours to the upkeep and upgrading of facilities there.
• We helped build the new pole barn at Harris neck NWR.
   

• More "Saturdays on the Refuge" at Savannah, Pinckney, and Harris Neck NWR's.

• An expanded General membership meeting planned for March

• The grand re-opening of the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive in late spring

• A Strategic Planning retreat for the Board of Directors and interested members to plot our course for the next few years

• Expanded activities during Refuge Week in October

• Upgraded web site and social media resources. 
• Building the Invasive Species education and control activities
• [____________________________________]  You fill in the blank here.  Your Friends group wants and needs your input on projects, programs, outreach.

Many thanks to all our members and volunteers and the Fish & Wildlife Service staff who made all of this possible!

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New Display at Harris Neck NWR:
 

          Your Friends group contracted with Todd Ballantine to design a new display for Harris Neck NWR.  The final design is much enhanced by the photographs taken by Friends group member and Savannah Morning News columnist Diana Churchill who waived her usual copyright fee for the use of the photos of the mink, the seaside sparrow, and the clapper rail.
 

 

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Welcome New Friends Group Members!
 

          A big Friends group welcome to Chris and Julie Shaw for their new family membership and donation at the "Supporter" level; to Mary Gray for her Individual membership: and to Jean and Larry Wickline, Kathleen and Mark Schaefer, Harry and Jo Hickson, and the Right Reverend and Mrs. Henry Louttit for new Family memberships.

          We have also received membership renewals for Tracy and Michael Toogood (who also made a donation in memory of Leon Tomlinson), Sharon Lindsay, Steve and Sara Miller, Nan Lloyd, Paul Padula, Lynn Greenwalt,  David Applegate, Stan Gray, Brent and Debby Shields, Erin Shields and Mike Johnson, Tom and Kathy Prusa, Katy Monnier, Dottie and Maurice Bass, Steve and Sandra Calver, Terry and Mary Ann Putnam, Noah and Mary Rosenstein, Jane Griess, and Dick Hansen.

• Beth and Steven Roth who contributed at the Patron level with Life Membership.
• Pat and John Metz who also contributed at the Patron level with Life Membership.
• Martin and Laura Miller who renewed at the Sponsor Level. 
   
• Karen and Mike McGinty who renewed at the Supporter level
• John and Lillian Edman also renewed at the Supporter level

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How about you?
 

        Friends Group memberships are based on calendar years, so now is the time to renew your membership for 2011.  If you are up for renewal, you should have received an e-mail reminder.  You can renew on the website using PayPal, or send us a check at the address below (that saves us the PayPal surcharge).

Not a member?  Choose your membership level and from the list below and send in your check.  Membership dues are tax deductible.

Giving a gift membership is also a great gift idea.

Individual             $15 per year. 

Family                  $25 per year

Supporter Level   $100-249 (with one year family membership for each $100)

Sponsor Level      $ 250-$499 ( with one year Family membership for each $100)  
 

Patron Level        $ 500-$999 (includes Life membership)

Benefactor Level $1000 or more (includes Life membership)

Download our membership application HERE.
 

Steve and Sara Miller, of Vale, NC, are enjoying their new adventure as resident volunteers on Savannah NWR.  They consider this a wonderful opportunity to become more acquainted with the Savannah Coastal Refuges and the Savannah area.  The Millers have volunteered during the past 8 years for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and have always believed they received more from the total experience than they have given to the refuges.  Steve and Sara are looking forward to being here January and February.   Photography, bird and animal watching, easy hikes, and history of the refuge are among their interests.

Ron & Linda Fleeger are fulltime RV'ers (no they don't own a house!) who have been traveling and volunteering for the USFWS since April of 2007.  To date they have served at 7 different Refuges across the nation. Ron is retired from the US Navy as an aviation electrician and Linda's careers included nursing, real estate and the floral industry.  They both have volunteered for countless agencies and programs prior to their current adventure.  Born and reared in northwestern PA they considered Virginia home for over 35 years.  The parents of 2 children they have 6 grand children.  They enjoy visiting historical areas with an emphasis on the cultural side; consider themselves "beginning birders" and have a goal of visiting every NWR & National Park in the lower 48 states. Linda is also an avid wool  rug hooker.

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Harbor Deepening:

          The comment period for the recently-released Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Savannah harbor deepening has been extended.

          A Resource page to help you keep up with this issue is now available on the Friends Group website.  Click HERE to check it out.

          This project promises to have a major negative impact on our region and on the Savannah NWR in particular, threatening to destroy as much as 10% of the remaining 3000 acres of fresh water marsh on the refuge.