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AMERICAN PHEASANT AND WATERFOWL SOCIETY - ANNUAL CONVENTIONS

AMERICAN PHEASANT AND WATERFOWL SOCIETY 2008 CONVENTION

(APWS Member Donnie Woodward submitted the following article from his attendance at the 2008 Convention. Thank you Donnie!)

On The Road Again...

By:  Donnie Woodward (Pennsylvania) 

      October is one of the nicest times of the year. It also means the annual APWS convention. This year it was in Rhode Island. It’s always great to meet with other bird people and talk about what worked and what didn’t in the breeding season. This year there was people from 22 states plus Canada, Poland, British Columbia and the Bahamas. 

      One day I was talking to my good traveling buddy John Schmidt. He came up with the idea for me to drive up to Connecticut a couple days early and do a little sight seeing. After a visit with John’s great new dove building ( which was full of doves) we were off  for Massachusetts.  Our first stop was at the Gingerbread House located in the Berkshires of western Mass. It’s most famous for it’s design. It’s roof has a 80-ton asphalt shingled roof, giving the look of thatch. The roof took 3 workers twelve years to complete.  

      Next, we drove by the home of Robert Frost in Homestead. How I remember reading his poems in school! As we drove past Lenox, Mass. John explained to me that this is the place to be in the summer as there are always some kind of outdoor musicals being performed. 

      Later we were in Hancock, Massachusetts, home of the famous Hancock shakers. I really thought the round stone dairy barn was  neat. It was built in 1826. It was amazing to think what thought was put into it’s building to make it energy efficient. It was really neat to see all the other buildings and to see how they lived and worked. I was also surprised to learn that today there still is a small active group of Shakers at Sabbathday Lake in Maine.  

      Then it was time to head to Vermont. John told me how you will see mountains  but nothing prepared me for the shear size of those mountains. It was really something. Glad I got to see them. Vermont is also famous for marble and we noticed one town we drove through the firehouse was even made of marble and the bridge abutments were of marble. We also stopped at a neat sporting goods store called Orvis.  They sell a lot of fishing equipment and outside they have several beautiful ponds with the largest trout I have ever seen to try out your new equipment. 

      Since we had to be in Rhode Island the following afternoon, we got a room for the night. The next morning we are up and ready to go by day break. John is a good traveling buddy as we always have something to talk about and that makes the travel time shorter. This time we are heading for Warrick, Rhode Island, where the convention is to be held. On the way through Ludlow, Mass. John remembered we are near one of his bird friends so he called and he invited us over. I’m glad we went as he had a very nice setup and a great water garden. After a couple more hours on the road we are at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. 

      The convention started with a welcome dinner.  It also included a great speaker, Don Bruning. After a very long day, we are ready for bed as we would be up early to start the bus tours. After a great breakfast we are on the 2 buses.  

      First stop was to visit Nat and Cathy Mizzoni in North Scituate, Rhode Island. My wife Roseann and I met Nat and Cathy several years ago at one of the APWS conventions and over the years have become very good friends. Nat has a setup I can only dream about. Everything is so neat and all the birds are in great shape. Since I also love old cars, it was great to see Nat’s beautiful classic corvette. I could have stayed all day but we have a tight schedule.  The next stop was at a beautiful greenhouse.  Here I saw the largest Indian corn I have ever seen.  

Nat Mizzoni and Don Woodward

      We continued on to Hope Valley at a large parrot rescue which was devoted to unwanted parrots of all kinds, where they will be well cared for and can live out the rest of their lives. Next we stopped at the nearby at the home of Bob and Gloria Corrigan, where you can sit on the deck and enjoy the waterfowl on the pond and the llamas walking through the woods. I don’t think any of us will ever forget the food they served. Lots of goodies and so many different kinds of food. I have never had a lunch with such appetizing food. Thanks, Bob and Gloria.

      After Hope Valley, it was on to Federal Hill to do some sightseeing and shop for that special gift.   

      We then boarded the buses to Lancellotta’s in North Providence, Rhode Island. Such a great Italian dinner. This was no trip to lose weight! 

      So, it’s early the next day when our buses arrive at Bill Brenner’s in East Bridgewater, Mass.  A great setup with a new breed of hairless sheep, doves and peafowl. He had a neat water garden as well.

      As time was short we were back on the buses to Peter Nardi in Middleboro, Mass. to see a very large waterfowl collection.  It was neat to see so many different ducks, plus a great pheasant collection. 

      Next stop was to visit Peter Sadeck in East Freetown, Mass.  It was so neat to see cranes just walking around the yard. He also has beautiful cages for doves and pheasants that are movable, as he takes them to the large Boston Garden Show. Then it was off for lunch in a very old Grange Hall. 

      The old Grange Hall was a very special place and another great lunch.   Our next stop was close by, at Ned and Elizabeth Newton’s in South Dartmouth, Mass.  Again, another great place. The view from their front porch is breath taking as they live near the Atlantic Ocean.  Famous New England stone rows are abundant there.  I guess it was so special to me because I love rocks and water. They have a large mixed collection. They also have a large garden of heirloom tomatoes. They are very busy people.  I have known Ned for several years and am glad to call him a great friend. He has done a lot over the years to introduce kids to the birds. 

      Back at the hotel it was time for the group dinner and the annual auction. Jim and Ruth Gollnick from Wisconsin do a lot of work getting the items ready for the auction. Jim is our auctioneer and you never know what he will say and as always the auction was a great success. Well, you guessed it! 

      After another short night it was off for another full day of bird tours. First stop was Tim Rennei in Merrimac, Massachusetts. They are remodeling a very old farm house.  What a view they have from the enclosed porch of a pond, fields and woods. A great collection of waterfowl.  

      On to Alan and Linda Wilkins in Middleton, Mass.  He has a  new style green house with lots of waterfowl, pheasants and chickens. With winter coming it will be great as everything is inside. 

      Now we go to Tony Di Paolo, in Beverly Mass. who has a  large mixed collection. Tony takes birds to the Topsfield Fair, the oldest fair in America. He also has a lot of fig trees. Next stop, Vitto Bucco in Beverly, Mass.   Vitto has a large barn full of Golden finches and of all kinds of quail. 

      It was then time for our banquet dinner. What a great dinner!  There was so many courses and all the food was first class. The banquet closes the 2008 convention so it was a time to say our goodbyes to folks we only see once a year. On the plus side, we will see a lot of people tomorrow morning as some are staying for the post-convention tour of Martha’s Vineyard. 

      The next morning, we were up and ready for the 1 ½ hour ride to Martha’s Vineyard. I have wanted to go here for a long time. As we finally arrived, I was surprised as how big it was. There are 4 townships, each having there own ambulance, fire truck and local government. To give you an idea as to the class of people that live here, they needed a new hospital costing 40 million dollars. The raised the money in only 2 years. Like all good tourist, we took a bus ride around some of the places. 

      Our first stop was at Gus Ben David’s to see the collection of reptiles and all kinds of birds. It is was a very neat setup and is a popular place on the island to visit. We then took a 3 ½ hour narrated tour.  We saw a lot of interesting places and we learned that a lot of famous people live there:  Michael J. Fox has been there for many years, along with Walter Cronkite, and Diane Sawyer.  The Jackie Kennedy family also has a large place there. It’s also sad that John Jr.’s plane crashed in the ocean at a spot that can be seen from their estate. We also got to stop at one of the towns and do the tourist thing. The prices were very interesting.  

      It’s now time to return to our ferry for the long ride back . It was nice to relax and reflect on the convention that is now all but history. A lot of hard work goes into putting a convention together.

      Thanks so much to the Northeast Aviculture Society; Nat and Cathy, Ned and Elizabeth, Jan Trader, and so many others more because as some of us know each convention starts a year in advance.  

(Next year will be in North Carolina. I hope a lot of you will try and go. It’s a lot of fun.)