President’s Letter: We Heard Your Preferences

President’s Letter: We Heard Your Preferences

By Lori Danielson

Eastside Audubon’s board received great feedback from the “safe start” survey that was emailed to our membership in June. There were more than 100 respondents to the online survey. We learned that most people have a high level of concern about resuming any indoor chapter activities, but there is some positive interest shown for participating in outdoor, small group, socially-distanced activities such as bird walks without carpools. Many people want to see more online offerings, such as adult education classes and program night speakers. We also received many helpful suggestions for types of classes, speakers, and other online activities. The board really appreciates getting this type of input from you and we’re using it to shape the chapter’s activities for the rest of 2020 and into 2021.

For the foreseeable future, we will hold our program nights as online events via Zoom. We’re scheduling the lineup of speakers and presentations now. We’re also planning online classes to begin this fall, which will be announced through our email newsletters and the website. Our conservation committee and board will continue to be active, working together through Zoom meetings and email. And we will consider whether it is feasible to restart outdoor activities in a safe and modified way, such as local bird walks for a limited number of people.

While the pandemic may alter the way we do things, we still need to celebrate milestones! Next year Eastside Audubon will celebrate its 40th anniversary. We want to make it a special, celebratory year. I’m looking for people who would like to serve on a committee (that will meet via Zoom) to plan our celebration activities that will mark this significant chapter milestone. Please contact me at president@eastsideaudubon.org if you’re interested in supporting the planning effort.