Nurturing Bird Brains
Carmen Meuret with her Audubon birds.
“Getting outside and spending time in nature is a great way to help kids clear and calm their minds! An easy activity is birdwatching which encourages mindfulness.”
- Carmen Meuret, MSW, LCSW and Winnebago Audubon VP
In October, Carmen Meuret had the privilege to represent Winnebago Audubon at the Audubon Great Lakes regional gathering at Indiana Dunes National Park. She presented on how she uses birds and nature in her practice as a mental health therapist, and shared how we can increase engagement with our mission/efforts by approaching nature activities with a mental health lens. Nature is good for us on so many levels.
Winnebago Audubon is fortunate to have such a caring and engaged person on our Board of Directors.
Evelyn Meuret, also a Chapter board member, accompanied her daughter to the gathering. They enjoyed meeting like-minded people; shared ideas; and learned what all the other chapters were doing for birds in our region.
Carmen was the lucky winner of a pair of binoculars at the Birds and Beers social event where they played a fun bird Jeopardy game created by a member of another attendee. This game is very likely going to make its debut in Oshkosh at a local brewery!
Evelyn and Carmen had a fun night playing Bird Jeopardy during the Audubon Great Lakes Gathering.
Remembering Carla Hansen
In March of 2021, our Chapter lost a friend and long-time board member. It is still difficult to accept, but her smiling face brings back some really great memories. Carla was presented the Meritorious Service Award in 2014 for her years of dedication to our chapter as Treasurer, Vice President, President and Director. She served as chairperson of Membership, Audubon Adventures, Birdathon, and School Programs, plus volunteered at Sullivan’s Woods. She attended as many field trips and programs that she could and always brought along friends, neighbors and grandchildren. One of Carla’s children shared with me that it was important to her to involve her children and grandchildren in outdoor activities. And she was always willing to take a friend of hers or the kids on these adventures.
In the spirit of her sharing attitude, and with many thanks to her generous family and friends who sent us memorial gifts totaling nearly $10,000, Winnebago Audubon added $10,000+ to that to establish a Field of Interest Fund at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation called Winnebago Audubon Education Fund. The purpose of the fund is to support environmental, science-based programs such as K-12 field trips and in-classroom presentations. Scholarships and research projects, including university level, will also be considered. We are most grateful for having Carla be part of our Audubon family and for her family and friends who helped create a legacy that will carry us into the future and serve the entire community.
Donations to the Fund may be made on-line at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation or through our Chapter website or via mail with a notation in the comments or check memo line. Thank you!
We invite you to apply for a grant from this fund if you are planning a program that meets our criteria.