Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters (COAC) Workshop, Sunday, March 4, 2018 Schedule and Registration

The March 2018 Workshop is hosted by the Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland at the Novak Education Center situated on the Blanche Katherine Novak Wildlife Sanctuary and State Nature Preserve, 382 Townline Road in Aurora, Ohio 44202.

Check this page for program updates.

Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters (COAC) Quarterly Workshop
Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters (COAC) quarterly workshops promote chapter development by sharing the best practices, brainstorming solutions to common problems, and developing relationships for innovation and collaboration. ​​

Event: Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters (COAC) Workshop 
Workshop Date and Time: Sunday, March 4, 2018 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
​Location: Novak Education Center, 382 Townline Road, Aurora, Ohio 44202 Map ​​
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Bird Walk (Optional): Starts at 9:30 am to 11:00 am

Registration: Confirm your registration in an email to [email protected] for the bird walk, the workshop, and lunch by Monday, Feb 26, 2018.  ​​A catered lunch is available for $8.00 that includes salad, dessert, cheese and fruit plate, and an assortment of coffee, tea, etc beverages. Let us know if you would like the vegetarian option. Please pay when you arrive.​ (Attendees are welcome to bring their own lunch.)

​​Who Can Attend? Ohio Audubon chapter members, collaborators, partners, and friends interested in birds and habitat conservation are welcome to attend.  

The ​Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland is the COAC Workshop March 2018 Host.​

SUBSCRIBE TO COAC NETWORK UPDATES

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Workshop Schedule (subject to change)

11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
WORKSHOP WELCOME | INTRODUCTIONS

11:15 AM - 12:30 PM
PRESENTATION

• “How We’re All Going to Grow with a COAC Platform” with Betsey Merkel, Digital Strategist and Network Coordinator, COAC.  Betsey will show how a COAC platform will help every Ohio Audubon Chapter to thrive and how all chapters can become one powerful voice for Ohio birds and habitat conservation.

GUIDED DISCUSSION | ACTIVITY
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12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
LUNCH | Roundtable Topics: LUNCH | Discussion Topics: COAC Platform consensus; chapter updates; future meeting topics and formats. Catered lunch (specify if you want the vegetarian option), cheese and fruit plate, salad, dessert, assorted beverages. $8.00 per person. Register by 2/26/2018 at [email protected]

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
PRESENTATION

• “Networking is Key to Big Money and Keeping Public Lands Public” with Jackie Augustine, COAC Chapter Representative, Tri-Moraine Audubon Society, Lima, Ohio. Jackie will discuss the chapter’s success in keeping public land open to the public.  In 2012, the Girl Scouts were considering the sale of Camp Myeerah to a private individual. Tri-Moraine Audubon Society, and in particular, Carol Bertrand, used COAC and other contacts to garner support and funding to purchase the 450 acres and transfer it to Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District in the City of Bellefontaine, OH. You won’t want to miss this inspirational story!

GUIDED DISCUSSION

• “Fund-Raising Success Stories” facilitated by Jackie Augustine. A group workshop featuring fund-raising success stories and discussion. It will be a great way to get new fundraising ideas, and feedback on activities your chapter is considering. Be prepared to be excited about fundraising!

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM
PRESENTATION

• “Engaging Young Adults and a College Community” with Carly Zeis, President, Birders of Miami University and Member, Audubon  Miami Valley, Oxford, Ohio. My student organization engages and co-operates with local environmental and birding organizations, encourages student members to come up with their own conservation efforts, run their own programs, events, and outreach efforts. Through these actions new ideas are generated and local engagement grows, which spurs on future generations of conservationists. When these students graduate, they will hopefully still participate in their local Audubon and wildlife societies, continuing to engage in conservation efforts and have a deep appreciation of wildlife throughout their lives.

GUIDED DISCUSSION
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3:45 PM - 4:00 PM
WRAP UP & NEXT STEPS | BIRD WALK (Optional)

A Resource Table will be available for sharing Chapter materials.

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Bird Walk ​(optional)

Photo: Bird Study Merit Badge 2017 by Alison DeBroux

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Event: Novak Sanctuary Bird Walk
Date & Time: Sunday, March 4, 2018, 9:30 am
Location: Novak Education Center, 382 Townline Road, Aurora, Ohio 44202 Map 
Leader: Jim Tomko, President, Greater Cleveland Audubon Society
Target Species: Incubating Eagles, Cedar Waxwings, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Eastern Bluebirds
Description: Go to the Novak Education Center, 382 Townline Road, Aurora, Ohio 44202 and meet in the parking lot about 100 yards south of the building on the east side of Townline Road on the Aurora/Mantua border. The Novak Education Center building is located on the Blanche Katherine Novak Wildlife Sanctuary and State Nature Preserve. 

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The Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland’s Novak Education Center ​

The Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland’s Novak Education Center is situated on the Blanche Katherine Novak Wildlife Sanctuary and State Nature Preserve located at 382 Townline Road, in Aurora, Ohio. ​​Map

About the Blanche Katherine Novak Sanctuary: ​In 1991 Bill Novak donated the Blanche Katherine Novak Sanctuary to Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland (ASGC). The 152 acres of farmland, forest, and high quality wetland has lain fallow since the 1950s. It has been designated a State Nature Preserve. Most of the woodland is a 70 year old Beech/Maple – Oak /Hickory forest but some is older and some is in earlier successional stages. The fields are being maintained through 5 year rotational strip mowing and spot spraying with a wetland approved herbicide in an effort to control invasive buckthorn. For 10 years we have had a pair of Bald Eagles nest and fledge eaglets which are viewable from the blind with a spotting scope. The fields have a good number of American Woodcocks involved in courtship display during the spring. Often Cedar Waxwings are seen gleaning berries and regularly a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers is seen working the snags of the beaver pond. Later in the spring and early summer the fields occasionally host Bobolinks. The trail is often muddy in the late winter and spring so waterproof mud boots are recommended.

Photo: Jim Tomko assisting young naturalists.

About Jim Tomko, President, Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland and Bird Walk Leader: While Jim Tomko’s childhood friends were playing baseball and football he was exploring the northeast Ohio woodlands and fields discovering the magic of salamanders, frogs, snakes, birds, insects, and spiders. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Miami University and a Master’s degree in Environmental Biology from Ohio State University. He also has a Doctorate in Optometry from Ohio State University. To this day he is like a kid that never grew up turning over stones, wading in streams, and investigating hollows. His need for a frequent natural history “fix” is supported by his Optometry practice in Aurora, Ohio. Jim currently serves as the president of the Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland and the president of the Moebius Nature Center.

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About the Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters Network, or "COAC Network": The COAC Network is an initiative of the Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters to grow conservation education activity in the State of Ohio. The COAC Network acts entrepreneurially, communicates, seeks collaboration, and in alignment with National Audubon Society strategic investments, builds public-private partnerships to sustain, restore and protect birds and habitat in Ohio by leveraging funding, building conservation capacity, and focusing partners and resources toward key ecological issues. As one of the first steps toward developing a COAC Network, a schedule of conference calls and workshops was organized to grow connectivity amongst existing and new Ohio Audubon Chapters. COAC activities are open to Audubon Chapter representatives, members, and interested participants. A website, or “platform”, to promote networking among the chapters will be developed and network communications will be organized. COAC development activity is currently incubated at Western Cuyahoga Audubon.

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