Blasts from the Past

As we end 2016 and begin the new year, we are going down memory lane this week, with selected news items from Featherless Flyers dating back as far as 10 years:

NOTE: this includes just a sampling of the many activities and events held at HNWR each year.


2007

First Annual Meeting of the Friends of Hagerman
First Refuge Manager, Mark Nelson, Pays a  Visit to HNWR

First "Second Saturday" Held
Extensive Flooding at HNWR as Texoma Tops Spillway for 3rd Time in History
Website for FOH Established
Christmas Bird Count Set for Dec 15
Whooping Cranes Stop Over at HNWR

December, 2007 - Photo by Rick Cantu

2008

Photographer of the Month Program Begins
Refuge Manager Johnny Beall Retires

First Super Saturday Held

Grilled 'burgers were popular at Super Saturday

Hiking Hagerman Series Published
Rick Cantu and Jim Lillis Offer Program for Bowhunters at HNWR

Welcome New Refuge Manager, Kathy Whaley

Two Pads Completed for Workampers

2009

Kathy Whaley Organizes SHORE Volunteers, for Outdoor Cleanup and Improvements
New 20 mph Speed Limit Signs Posted on Wildlife Dr.
Trail Gets New Designation - Haller's Haven Trail, by Popular Vote

FOH Taking HNWR Slide Show to Area Civic Clubs and Groups
First  Photo Safari Set for April
More Flooding at Refuge as Lake Texoma Level Reaches 629'
Welcome Workampers Guy & Elaine Welch, Judy & Buzz Sutherlin,  and Bill & Carol Powell
New Observation Deck Added on Egret Road

Prairie and Timbers Audubon Society  Grant Received for Prairie Restoration
Wetlands Improvement Project Gets Underway
Winter Tours of Refuge by Van Are Popular
FOH Nature Photography  Club to Organize
FOH Starts Facebook Page

2010

New Program - Second  Saturday for Youth Begins
Extension of State Hwy 289 Completed
Welcome Mary Maddux, USFWS Region 2 Oil and Gas Specialist
Plans for New Refuge Office and Visitor Center Published

Winners of the First HNWR Nature Photography Contest Announced
Welcome Kevin Vaughn,  Law Enforcement Officer
Nest Box Monitoring Program Organized
Pottsboro 4th Grade Students at HNWR for Environmental Day
Demolition of Existing Visitor Center  Completed

Groundbreaking  Held for New Refuge Office and Visitor Center

Kids Fishing Event Big Success
First  High on the Hawg Held on the Three "Hunt" Saturdays
Adopt a Nest Box Program Offered
TAPS Buses Provide Tours of Wildlife Drive to View Geese for Second Saturday Program

2011

FOH Receives Grant from Clara Blackford Smith & W. Aubrey Smith Foundation for Nature Nook Set-up in New Visitor Center
Elm Fork Master Naturalists Tour HNWR
New FOH Website Launched
Plans Announced  to Organize Bluestem Master Naturalist Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists
FOH Participates in  Earth Day Texoma for Second Year
Staff Move to New Refuge Office Begins in July
FOH Receives Gift from Jetta Operating Co, Inc, New Oil Operator at HNWR
Refuge Office/Visitor Center Grand Opening Held September 8

Photo by Skip & Melinda Hill

Bird Census Committee Established to Preserve HNWR Census Data
Native Plant Garden Installed at Visitor Center by Grayson Master Gardeners

2012

Refuge Conducts Visitor Survey
New Refuge Office/Visitor Center Receives Silver LEED Certification
Natur'Ology Camp Announced for June
FOH Holds Garage Sale in May
Welcome Workamper Edee Wolfenberger
Sory Elementary Students Visit HNWR on Field Trip

Residents of the Old Town of Hagerman, Texas, Invited to Tell Stories at History Day at HNWR
New Official HNWR Website Launched

Refuge Participates in Dust Study 

Carlos & Eulalia Cardinal Express - Open-air, All-electric Tram, Gift from Dr. and Mrs. Carlos Araoz, Put Into Service

Bluestem Master Naturalists Complete First Volunteer Training Series

2013

Grant Received from Ft. Worth Audubon Society to Purchase Binoculars for  Guided Tours
BirdFest Texoma  Features David Sibley, The Raptor Project, Field Trips and More, in May, 2013

David Sibley in the field at HNWR, by Laurie Sheppard

The Raptor Project, by Marilyn Pickens

Handicapped Accessible Loop Added to Harris Creek Trail
Photo Blind Built on Meyers Unit, North of Visitor Center
FOH Honored by USFWS Southwest Region 2 - Friends Group of the Year
Interior Least Tern Project - Artificial Nesting Platform  Built, Launched
HNWR Weekly Bird Census Record Set, with 108 Species Seen in 5-hour Period
National Public Radio Visits HNWR - USFWS Arranged for KXII TV and NPR to Spend a Day Birding with Karl Haller,  Honored for 50 Years of Birding at the Refuge

Karl Haller Honored

Welcome Summer Intern Jesse Trujillo
Super Saturday 2013 Cancelled Due to Government Shutdown

2014

Friday Fun Day and a Nature Writing Workshop Added to January Activity Calendar
Spring Break Family Fun Offered March 10 - 14
Drought Began in  2011, Goes On and On
Welcome Workampers, Fran & Bob King
Bald Eagles Call HNWR Home Year Around for First Time
Welcome Summer Intern Aaron Blount
Work Begins on Butterfly Garden

FOH Gets a New Logo

Designed by Jesus Moreno

Nature Nook Offering Ducks Unlimited Prints for Sale
Welcome Workampers Barry & Lynn Burkhardt
Butterfly Garden Dedication Held

2015

Friends Obtain NFWF Grant for Board Training
Jay Noel recognized for 30 years with USFWS

Meet Courtney Anderson, First SCA Intern at HNWR
Regional Refuge Supervisor, Raye Nilius, Officing at HNWR
HNWR hit by Record Flooding of Lake Texoma - Closed to Public Mid-May - August

Staff Photos

Garden Docent Program Organized
Welcome Monarch Intern Alex Ocanas
Lights, Camera, Action as FOH Partners with KXII to Promote HNWR and Volunteering at the Refuge, Thanks to NFWF Grant and In-Kind Gifts
Grand Opening of the Butterfly Garden Held in October

Mini-Fest,  Geese by Golly Set in December
New Shop/Office Nears Completion

2016

Flooding Returns to HNWR

Repairs were made to flood damaged signs and structures by workampers.

Celebration Held as HNWR Turns 70
Guided Butterfly Garden Walks Set
Record Number of Children at HNWR for Spring School Field Trips
Officer Kevin Vaughn Retires, Welcome New Officer, Chris Owen
Welcome Workampers Debbie and Mark Ford and Daniel Jackson, Summer Pathways Intern
Farewell to Rick Cantu,  Named New Manager at Tishomingo NWR
Refuge Road Re-do Begins and Is Completed by Year-end

Drawing and Nature Journaling Workshop Held in October
Monarchs Galore at Refuge During Fall

Monarchs on Frostweed, by Bill Powell

Ten New Lepidoptera Species Reported for HNWR
7th Annual High on Hawg Held
Welcome Refuge Assistant Manager Paul Balkenbush, (shown below) and Courtney Anderson, General Biologist

Happy  2017, from Friends of Hagerman!