Mamie Campbell Award

Generosity and Commitment:

The Mamie Campbell Award

The Audubon Society of Portland takes special pride that it is a volunteer organization. Much of what we accomplish is through the generosity and commitment of our more than 1,000 volunteers.

Each year, during the festivities at the annual banquet, Portland Audubon commemorates its most dedicated volunteers by awarding the Mamie Campbell award for volunteer achievement.

Established in 1985, the Mamie Campbell Award is given to our most important and dedicated volunteers. Award criteria include (1) sustained and long-term commitment to PAS, (2) multifaceted volunteer service (in several different program areas), and (3) the importance of the work to PAS and/or the leadership and role model qualities of the individual.

Mamie Campbell was an important figure in Audubon’s early years.  A long-time and active volunteer herself, Mamie was instrumental in establishing the Jr. Audubon Club in Portland.  Mamie was an ardent conservationist and helped distribute environmental brochures to area schools in the 1920’s and 30’s.  She was also a tireless leader of the Lucy Club, which organized Portland Audubon Society social and special events during the early 1900’s and was named after Lucy Audubon, the wife of James Audubon.

The Mamie Campbell Award is the highest honor given to Audubon volunteers, and it recognizes the dedication and service each recipient has tirelessly given.

2010 Mamie Campbell Recipients

The Audubon staff presented this prestigious award to 8 deserving volunteers in 2011.  

quickly became a volunteer who braved the elements every month to help with sanctuary work parties and now mentors new volunteers at each TogetherGreen Day.  Jean’s tireless enthusiasm and can-do attitude are contagious.  As a Sanctuary Committee member, Jean provides the perspective of an active Audubon volunteer and has offered to lead our outreach for this year’s Native Plant Sale.  Proving Jean loves Audubon’s sanctuary, she shares it with school children as a Sanctuary Tour volunteer.  She impresses everyone with her knowledge of the natural history of the Pacific Northwest, and her ability to convey that knowledge to Audubon’s youngest visitors.  Jean is also a member of the Volunteer Council, helping lead our Volunteer Program to new heights.

is a Sanctuary Tour volunteer extraordinaire and consistently demonstrates her passion for sanctuary tours and children.  Pat is always positive and flexible and has become a true asset to our Education Department.  She’s been a tremendous help leading school groups to the Oregon Coast as well.  It seems Pat can lead a group of kids through the wet, rainy woods with the greatest of ease and smile the whole way through!  In addition to Sanctuary Tours, Pat does bird surveys for Conservation, is a member of our Speakers’ Bureau and Volunteer Council, and helps with numerous special events like Swift Watch and our “Night Flight” Halloween Event.

has donated over 1,000 hours since she started volunteering in 2007.  You’ll find Molly in the Nature Store every Tuesday, and the rest of the time she’s organizing the Wild Arts Festival Book Fair.  When first approached about serving on the WAF committee, Molly said, “Sure, I’ll be on the committee, but I don’t want to be that involved.”  Three years later and she’s already got a couple years as Book Fair Chairperson under her belt.  She spends countless hours lining up authors, coordinating book purchases, and organizing logistics to make the annual event a success.  Molly’s also gotten involved with Audubon’s Backyard Habitat Certification Program with a Gold Certified backyard of her own.  

was unable to join us this evening.  Katy believes in the power of marketing.  Since arriving at Audubon several years ago, Katy has challenged us to better promote our good work and has helped us take advantage of opportunities to do just that.  Katy serves on Audubon’s Board and, as the chair of the Development Committee, is leading a new visioning process.  Katy’s also very hands-on while she’s at Audubon.  She helps the Wildlife Care Center staff rehab many of the nearly 3,000 native injured animals that come in every year, and works with Julio, our Great horned owl, and Finnegan, our Peregrine falcon, in her “spare time” as one of our education bird handlers.

brings her expertise of microbiology to the Wildlife Care Center during her weekly shift.  She’s affectionately called the “Fecal Queen” because she loves finding parasites and bugs in the fecal material.  Carol has enthusiastically trained many Wildlife Care Center volunteers to run lab work and has proven herself to be a great teacher.  When asked to help on a committee, we’re pleased to say that Carol rarely says “no.”  She’s not only on the Volunteer Council, she’s also on the “Night Flight” Halloween Event committee and is helping to plan our newest volunteer event—International Vulture Appreciation Day in September.

started volunteering at Audubon with his wife, Carol, in 2007, and has already donated over 1,100 hours of service.  As one of our education bird handlers, Gary works with Hazel, our Northern spotted owl, and Jack Sparrowhawk, one of our American kestrels at both on- and off-ground events and displays.  Gary’s a skilled birder and is the “go-to-guy” during his weekly Wildlife Care Center shift to identify the “little brown bird” that just came in for care.  You’ll also find Gary at many of our special events as well, including the Wild Arts Festival, Native Plant Sale, and Swift Watch; and he’s on, not one, but TWO Birdathon teams!  In his spare time, Gary’s a glider pilot and donated a glider ride to the Wildlife Care Center auction that’s open for bids through May 6.

retired, she joined a walking group that often led her right past the Audubon Society of Portland.  Let’s just say that one day in 2007 Jackie hung a left and found herself volunteering.  Since then Jackie has become one of our favorite Nature Store volunteers always greeting visitors with a smile, helping them with merchandise and answering their questions.  Jackie also served as a member of Audubon’s Volunteer Council.  She says she’s “inspired by the passion and dedication of our volunteers” and served on the Council as yet another way to give back to the organization.  She did that in between her Wildlife Care Center shift and her education bird handling of Hazel, our Northern spotted owl, and Jack and Lillie, our two American kestrels.

has worn several hats.  He is currently serving his third term as Board secretary.  Wink has served as the primary lead for Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count by organizing the regional leaders and contributing content to our December newsletter.  For the second year in a row, Wink is the behind-the-scenes “face” of the Wild Arts Festival’s Facebook page.  With all of these contributions throughout the years, Wink still manages to lead Morning Birdsong Walks at Pittock Mansion, serves as one of the Wild Turkey Gonzo van drivers and leaders for Birdathon, and does bird surveys on Sauvie Island.

2010 Mamie Campbell Winners

MAMIE CAMPBELL AWARD WINNERS!

(Pictured left to right, back row:  Mariha Kuechmann, John Hammerstad, Kristina Gifford, Jean Schoonover, and Carol McAllister.  Front row:  Jill Nelson-Debord, Carol Gross, Lynn Sweeney, and Becky Magnuson)

 

Mamie Campbell was an important figure in Audubon’s early years.  A long-time and active volunteer herself, Mamie was instrumental in establishing the Jr. Audubon Club in Portland.  Mamie was an ardent conservationist and helped distribute environmental brochures to area schools in the 1920’s and 30’s.  She was also a tireless leader of the Lucy Club, which organized Portland Audubon Society social and special events during the early 1900’s and was named after Lucy Audubon (wife of James Audubon).

The Mamie Campbell Award is the highest honor given to Audubon volunteers, and it recognizes the dedication and service each recipient has tirelessly given.

This year, the Audubon staff presented this prestigious award to nine deserving volunteers at the Annual Volunteer Banquet. 

Jill Nelson-Debord started volunteering at the Audubon Society of Portland in 2005.  Since then, she’s done approximately 50 sanctuary tours.  At about 10 kids per tour, that means she’s shared our sanctuary with about 500 area students, giving them a deeper appreciation for nature.  Jill also helps with several special events like the Wild Arts Festival, the Native Plant Sale, and Birdathon and is one of the original Backyard Habitat Program volunteers.  She’s chair for “Banana Slugs and Banana Splits”, our next Audubon Family Adventure, and really helps our volunteer program grow as well, as a member of the Volunteer Council.

Carol McAllister’s volunteer career started in 1999 when she began her shift in the Wildlife Care Center, but beyond that she has rehabbed a countless number of orphaned squirrels and chipmunks.  In case you’ve never taken care of a baby squirrel, let’s just say it’s a 24-hour-a-day job!  Carol’s especially excited because she just released the first pair of Townsend’s chipmunks she successfully rehabbed.  With Carol’s nursing background, she understands and is able to treat those mammals requiring special medical attention.  More recently, Carol’s taken charge of our Material Safety Data Sheets for the Wildlife Care Center.  Needless to say, this is a very tedious and time-consuming job that requires a great deal of attention to detail.  Carol is also a Nature Store volunteer and last year became the “unofficial” jewelry buyer.  The jewelry sales have steadily climbed ever since!

Even though Carol Gross just started volunteering in 2007, she’s already logged over 1,000 volunteer hours between her leadership on the Volunteer Council, coordinating all the volunteers for the Native Plant Sale for the last three years, working in the Nature Store and as a receptionist, tabling at local festivals and events, and helping with the Wild Arts Festival.  As an original member of the Speakers’ Bureau, Carol has given presentations both on-site and at several far-flung locations in the Portland area.  She’s even come in a few times just to help the Wildlife Care Center volunteers and staff keep up with the laundry and dishes!  Carol’s always there when we need her, and she’s always got a smile on her face and enthusiasm that can’t be beat.  If you want a worm bin built, Carol’s your gal.  She made the bins for our kitchen compost.  Carol’s calm and capable.  In fact, Greg Kurtz describes Carol as the CALMEST person he knows!  All we need to do is point Carol in the right direction and she takes it from there with no problem.

Kristina Gifford joined Audubon’s Board in 2007 lending her expertise and leadership to the entire organization; however, she didn’t want to stop there.  Kristina really wanted to volunteer on a regular basis to show her total support.  She’s been volunteering in the Nature Store ever since all in between her busy work schedule.  The Nature Store staff has grown to depend on Kristina for handling a major part of their merchandise inventory.  Kristina also helps with conservation activities, Birdathon, the Christmas Bird Count, and she’s at the Wild Arts Festival every year.  According to Steve Engel, Kristina is enthusiastic, knowledgeable, dedicated, helpful, and she can play a mean game of cheek darts!

 

Jean Schoonover is the volunteer who makes all the volunteer hour statistics the staff uses every year as they write grants and annual reports possible.  She volunteers every Tuesday morning in the Wildlife Care Center, but then she spends another three hours every Tuesday afternoon entering all the volunteer hours from the previous week.  In addition, she serves on the committees for the Wildlife Care Center Open House and the “Night Flight” Halloween Event.  She’s one of our regulars for “Ovenbird Outings” and volunteers for many of our special events like the Raptor Road Trip and the Native Plant Sale.  Always willing to try something new, Jean has also volunteered to get up really early in the morning to be in downtown Portland for the Window Strike Program and recently helped with our newest event for families…our Audubon Family Adventures.

John Hammerstad serves as an excellent and engaged Board Member.  He and his wife, Judi, have opened their home on many occasions to support Audubon’s good work.  This has included three years of house parties as well as a house party for the Metro Bond Measure in 2006.  These gatherings have generated nearly $20,000 for general operations.  In addition, John has actively participated and raised money from Birdathon and serves on the Membership and Development and the Bylaws Committees.  This last committee spent well over a year working to revise the documents that govern the way Audubon operates.  On the surface, that might seem like an easy task; but it involved gathering lots of ideas and comments from other Board Members and other organizations, reworking language to convey consistency and tone throughout, and presenting the new bylaws before the Board for approval.

Lynn Sweeney’s been a member of the Friday crew in the Wildlife Care Center for as long as anyone can remember.  Children who visit the Care Center always get more than they bargained for when Lynn is talking to them.  She brings down the stuffed Red-tailed hawk or the chicken skeleton or anything else interesting to help spark knowledge and engage young…and, for that matter…older visitors in learning something new.  Lynn’s the “kitchen queen” as she prepares all the daily diets, cleans up everywhere, and greets all the visitors.  She’s also the major supplier of the well-brewed coffee and always brings enough to share.

Like Lynn, Becky Magnuson’s a member of Friday’s Wildlife Care Center crew and has donated thousands of hours over the years.  The first “Peregrines and Pinot” fundraiser for the Wildlife Care Center wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without Becky’s leadership.  As a member of the organizing committee, she gave a lot of her time and creativity to make sure all of the guests had a great time.  She also got most of the terrific raffle items which added a lot to the fundraising efforts.  Whenever in doubt, the Friday crew always asks, “What would Becky do?”  Kari Jones really didn’t know what that meant until she went on a wild eagle chase with Becky.  It seems that Becky will do almost anything to get her bird even if that means shredding her pants by going through blackberry bushes searching for that eagle that probably flew off hours before!  With that kind of attitude, Becky always brings a calming smile to the craziest of days.

Rounding out the Friday Wildlife Care Center crew is Mariha Kuechmann who has helped rehabilitate thousands of animals and answered just as many telephone calls to help people understand how they can best live with urban wildlife over the years.  She is always up for wildlife rescues and releases in Vancouver and beyond and often brings in berry clippings from her property for the songbirds.  What’s truly unique about the Friday morning Care Center shift is their longevity.  Along with Josie, who received a Mamie in 2004, they have been together forever and have formed lifelong friendships.  It’s a truly an amazing crew.

2008 Mamie Campbell Award Winners

Kelli Walker for her 15 years of outstanding service in the Wildlife Care Center.

Sharon Coggswell for her work in the Education Department and service on the Volunteer Council.

Tom Potts for the dedication he shows in the Nature Store, the Wildlife Care Center, and the Birdathon committee.

Kyle Spinks for his years of service, first in the Wildlife Care Center, and then in the Sanctuaries Department.

Ginnie Ross for doing a little of everything:  receptionist, Wildlife Care Center, education bird handler, data entry, and Volunteer Council.

Congratulations and thank you to all of our 2008 Mamie Campbell Award Winners!