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THE NEWSLETTER EDITOR IS HAPPY TO ANSWER THIS LETTER 
Mrs, Alice Irwin, of the Decatur Audubon Society, wrote to the editor of this pub- 
Tication:"...1'm not sure whether the following account of our activities belongs... 
just thought it a somewhat different project than many Societies have, and we are 
rather proud of it, It has proved one thing to us--not to be afraid to ask local 
organizations for help, or cooperation, since help ig often forthcaning when least 
expected," 
AUDUBON HILL 
In February, 1961, a charter member of Decatur Audubon died, and the members, 
desiring a more lasting memorial than flowers, decided that a tree planted in Fair- 
view Park might be a more fitting tribute, After talking with a co-operative Park 
Board, the fudubon Society was assigned to an area in the west end of the park whith 
not only needed additional plantings, but had been kept in a more natural state than 
the remainder of the park, 
The Park Board donated some of the trees and many shrubs, as suggested by the 
Society. These were chosen both for food and color, The Decatur Society paid for 
a number of trees, but the Park Board planted all trees and shrubs. Shortly after 
the initial proposal tree planting, it was decided to plant a tree for each 
club member who passed away, 
Since then, such trees as Pin Oak, Sweet Gum, Tulip, Cypress,and Black Locust 
have been planted, Each tree has a mrker beside it with the name of the tree and 
the name of the member for whom it was planted, The location is on a knoll in the 
park, There are some large evergreens, some low marshy places, tangles of wild 
grape vine, a few larger hardwood trees, and nearby a small stream running through 
the park. 
The hard-working committee, composed of Mary Orr, Norma Riehl, Naomi McKinney 
and Myrtle Jane Cooper, has worked out future plans for plantings to hide the nearby 
highway. The fruition of the plans will also help to muffle noise, provide more 
nesting sites, and create greater variety and color, Future plans include brush 
piles and feeding stations. Members of the Society have early May breakfasts and 
then go out to enjoy the beauty and quist of Audubon Hill. It is included in som 
of our field trips and often members go singly, in early morning or evening, to 
visit our hilltop, 
I,A.S, NEWSLETTER PROPOSES A NEW DEPARTMENT 
Most publications have a department called, "Letters to the Editor," or "Voice of 
the People," or something’similar, in which readers can state their views and com 
ments, We would like to start such a department, First of all, it should have an 
appropriate name, In view of our interest in birds, would "Twitterings" fit the 
bill? Or how does "Cheeps and Chirps" sound to you? Let's have your response, In 
the meantime, because it's complimentary to our contributors, we're printing a 
letter in this as yet unnamed department, This suggests a method for getting new 
I,A.S, members: 
"A note of appreciation on how much we both enjoyed the last issue 
of the I.A,S. NEWSLETTER. We found it most interesting as well as 
informative and will pass our copy along to someone else, In addition, 
our thanks must also go to all those who contributed the various 
articles," 
