Environmental Echo

On the heels of its opening in Chicago, Don Corrigan will bring his humorous presentation, “STORY OF ODDVERTISING,” to Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow at 5:30 p.m., Nov. 23. The audience at the free show is invited to the Winery Tasting Room to “Sip, Snicker and Sound-Off!”

The Sound-Off Session will have attendees nominate the most annoying TV ads that they put up with this year. For discussion: Why are there so many goofy ads on TV? Why is the time given to ads expanding? Who are the creative geniuses behind Oddvertising?

Don has studied and taught media at universities for 40 years. He espouses media theories of Wally Armbruster, creator of top Budweiser and toilet bowl ads; Marshall McLuhan, the guru of hot & cool media; and Mike Johnston, the ad creative who coined this term: “ODDVERTISING.”

Don also will discuss his media books, which examine, in part, how squirrels, roadkill, and flatulence are used in ODDVERTISING. Sound-off night participants can enter a drawing to win the infamous Christmas Flatulence Basket. The basket winner will be announced at Blumenhof’s Christkindl Market on Nov. 30.

Not all “ODDVERTISING” is bad. As a fan of Wine Country and author of The Washington Missourian’s “Off The Vine” column, Corrigan is interested in audience ideas on how to promote wine country in unique ways. No charge for this event, but purchase of wine and books is encouraged!

(left to right) Kirkwood Mayor, Liz Gibbons, WGNSS President Bill Duncan and Kirkwood Parks Board Chairperson, Ellen Edman stand beside the new J. Earl Comfort display. Photo by Richard Thoma.

by Don Corrigan

Saturday, Nov. 2, was a fine, sunny day to dedicate the new J. Earl Comfort Bird Sanctuary display in Kirkwood. A well-known St. Louis area birder, Comfort was a conservationist, educator and writer of bad bird puns.
No one ducked the issue of Comfort’s wayward wit, such as his contention that gulls may not be such gullible birds. The dignitaries at the dedication on the banks of Sugar Creek in Kirkwood Park, chose instead to focus on other aspects of his life.

Bill Duncan, volunteer extraordinaire of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society, outlined the work of Comfort as a WGNSS writer who contributed 461 articles to its Nature Notes publication.

Ellen Edman, Kirkwood Parks Board Chair, was among those wowed by Comfort’s birding in Kirkwood Park during the period he lived in Kirkwood from the 1950s until his death in 1977. He was born and raised in central Illinois, then moved to Webster Groves, then Kirkwood.

Kirkwood Mayor Liz Gibbons talked about the importance of community participation to protect wild areas within the Kirkwood Park system. She also mentioned that bird populations have been declining and the need to insure bird-friendly habitats.

Naturalists of all kinds attend the dedication of the new J. Earl Comfort Bird Sanctuary display dedication Photo by Richard Thoma.

At the park event, Richard Thoma, longtime WGNSS board member and author of its 100th anniversary history, said he was most impressed that a young birder – not yet in her teens – was already able to use the Comfort exhibit for avian identification purposes.

“Of particular note for me, a young girl was the first to use the J. Earl Comfort Display to identify two birds in the bird sanctuary,” said Thoma. “The two birds that Francesca Bennett-Hartmann identified were the Carolina Chickadee and the Downy Woodpecker.

“And WGNSS birding expert David Becher, also at our dedication, verified that Francesca was correct,” added Thoma. “I’m so pleased that Francesca’s mother said that we could include Francesca’s name for a future article for WGNSS Nature Notes and in our local newspaper.”

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MDC is exhibiting the 2024 Missouri Junior Duck Stamp Contest entries during November at Powder Valley Nature Center. Seen here is the Missouri Best of Show entry, Wood Duck by Vivian Bashar, a senior at Nixa High School.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is exhibiting the 2024 Missouri Junior Duck Stamp Contest winning art entries during the month of November at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center.

The exhibit includes the contest’s Missouri Best of Show winning artwork of a Wood Duck by Vivian Bashar, a senior at Nixa High School.   Bashar also finished 11th in the National Junior Duck Stamp Competition out of 56 entries submitted from the 50 States and the U.S. Territories.

The contest categories are divided into four groups based on grade level, K-3rd, 4th-6th, 7th-9th, and 10th-12th.  Bashar received a $500 reward as Best of Show winner, while all category first place winners received a $50 gift card donated by Bass Pro Shops.  The exhibit showcases all winning entries in each category.  Each individual winner gets a ribbon, certificate, and educational materials.

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