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Intent and Purpose ofThe American Pheasantand Waterfowl Society
Nancy G Hann - Webmaster |
AMERICAN PHEASANT AND WATERFOWL SOCIETYCelebrating 72 Years
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AMERICAN PHEASANT AND WATERFOWL SOCIETY 2007 ConventionSalt Lake City UtahSubmitted By: Cathy Mizzoni
The Utah Pheasant Society and Roy & Joyce Bouck were our hosts for the 2007 Utah Convention. The Embassy Suites was our home for the week. The hotel was in Salt Lake City and surrounded by the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. The area is well known to skiing enthusiasts.After our Membership Dinner and Meeting Guest Speaker Merrill Webb did a presentation on the flora and fauna of Utah which was enjoyed by all.Our first day of tours we visited the Monte Bean Science Museum which had a great many species of taxidermy pheasants and ducks as well as other specimens. The displays were wonderfully done and used for an educational program for the public. There was a wall of butterflies that was amazing.When we left the museum the 2 buses split up and one went to Cableas and the other to the collection of Steve and Lori Eyre in American Fork. Lori is the daughter of Roy and Joyce Bouck. There home and aviaries were beautiful. After we toured these places the buses met back up at the collection of Roy and Joyce Bouck in South Jordan. The tour was an enjoyable experience and Roy had a very broad selection of pheasants, waterfowl, parrots and a monkey! The group had lunch there and Roy was kept busy answering questions about his birds and facilities. We thanked them all for their hospitality.Later that day , we visited the Kennecott Copper Mines. It is the largest man-made excavation in the world, yielding more than 17 million tons of copper metal.That evening we were suppose to attend the normal Thursday night practice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir turned into a very special concert. In attendance was the President of the Republic of Czech as well as his Cabinet Members and also many World War II Veterans. The choir of 320 sang beautifully!The following day we visited the Hogle Zoo. We were given a personal tour by Gunter Hein who in charge of the Zoo's Operation Department for our visit. It was very enjoyable. After an hour there we headed to the Tracy Aviary which houses many pheasants and was open to the public. Our lunch stop was interesting. There was a little "Mom and Pop Deli" not to far away that the Charter Bus Company had recommended and our sandwiches had been ordered while we were in transit. The sandwiches were huge and we could not eat all of them! After lunch we stopped at a delicious store called "The Western Nut". Everyone bought bags of goodies. Our last stop was a drive by the State Capitol and then up to Ensign Peak. This stop was amazing and it overlooked the whole city.That evening we had our annual auction. Our auctioneer Jim Gollnick always leaves us wondering what outfit he will be coming in for the auction. Nat even got to sell his shirt and ended up getting to keep it on! All for a good cause!Saturday Morning we were up early to head out for our day's adventure. Our first stop was at Willow Park Zoo in Logan, Utah which was up in the northern part of Utah. The weather made a turn and it had started to drizzle by the time we arrived. The Zoo had closed for the season and was not open to the publicAnd despite the weather we were greeted by Superintendent Rod Wilhelm who gave us a tour of the Zoo. It turned out to be a really really nice Zoo and very well kept.Our next stop was to the collection of Douglas Eames who lived not too far from Willow Park Zoo. He had arrived at the Zoo to take us to his place. Mr. and Mrs. Eames were very gracious hosts and had warm cider and donuts waiting for us. Mr. Eames had a very nice aviary in his backyard and we were glad he let us tour his place.Our next stop was a stop for lunch then we headed to the James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. The Center was very nice, but due to the weather we were not able to walk the wildlife trail.Our last stop for the day was Antelope Island. 20,000 acres where one can view mule deer, big horn sheep, pronghorn antelope, coyotes and has over 500 bison. The surrounding lake is habitat for over 250 species of birds. We got to see the pronghorn and bison and also chuckars while we were there. After touring the island and the Welcome Center we headed back to the hotel for our last night together as a group.The Awards Banquet was very special. A table was set up with place settings and candles in memory of several departed members. After dinner, as each name was announced, LaDonna Lickteig turned the coffee cup over and blew out each candle. This was very moving and these members will be very missed. All in all a great time was had by everyone. Thank you to all of you for your participation to and for attending the convention. We look forward to seeing you next year in Rhode Island! |
