Wild and Free Open House

 April 16, 2005

  Today was the official opening of the new Wild and Free building.  The dedication and opening ceremony started at 1 PM with a greeting by board president, Deb Griffith and presentation of guests.

  Notice the bear pen in the background?  This guy wasn't too impressed with our activities.

  Our guests included Dave Mather (on left), a bear biologist and Don Wedll, the representative of the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe.

  We should mention that Don was instrumental in getting a large grant ($17,500) for the start of our new building.  Most of the work on the building was done by volunteers.  These 3 men did almost all of the construction work.

  Dr Debbie was the founder and has been the driving force behind Wild and Free since its inception.

  It seems only right that when it was time to cut the ribbon, Dr Deb should do the job.

  Before people started touring the building it was time to release some of the rehabilitated birds.  The most impressive was this Great Gray Owl. (picture by Becky)

  After being given a boost into the air it turned and did a flyover of the people gathered to watch.  Most impressive!

  We also released a Long Eared Owl today.  This owl is quite reclusive and is seldom seen. (picture by Becky)

  Although not as large as the Great Gray, it still was impressive as it flew over the crowd and into the woods. (picture by Becky)

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