By Bettie R. Moody
The
knowledge, good fellowship, and admirable conservation achievements we enjoy
today as members of the Indian River Audubon Society began because of an
inconspicuous newspaper article. Mrs. G.T. Von Colditz read it in 1950; it said
that Mr. Merritt Farrar, executive secretary of the Florida Audubon Society,
and his wife were coming to Brevard on a Saturday field trip and invited
interested persons to join them. Mrs. Von Colditz attended and sparked the
later coming together of nature lovers to discuss different kinds of birds they
happened to see during the previous month. After about six months, field trips
were organized and led by Mr. Foster White of Merritt Island.
An
early Limpkin, however, notes:
It
would not be possible to fix a definite date when the local group of nature
lovers in Brevard County first thought of organizing a club. For some years, there were, perhaps,
not more than a dozen interested persons in the County, who, at irregular
intervals would tramp around the County and enjoy the wonderful wild life,
(sic) for which Florida is so justly famous. The old “regulars” in those days were, perhaps, Foster
White, Sam Harper, and a few winter visitors, like Ed Ford, Emeritus Curator of
Ornithology of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Later, we felt the obligation to try and interest other
people, but for a long time, we were still just a “group”, without any
organization.
Other pioneers were Mr. and
Mrs. Graeme Howard, Mr. James O’Neil, first editor of the Limpkin, Mr.
Hunley Abbott, Mrs. Myrtle Maxwell, Mrs. H. F. Gartner, Mr. A. H. Hastings, Mr.
C. E. Richards, Mr. Floyd Miller, and later Mr Alonso Ellis, Mr. F. J.
Hopkinson, Mr. William Hueston, Mr. Johnny Johnson, and Mr. G. Chandler
Young. Usually, their wives and
husbands also belonged to the Indian River Audubon Club which soon became
associated with, but not a chapter of, the Florida Audubon Society –
mainly because of the pleasant and helpful relations with Mr. And Mrs.
Farrar. He often spoke to the
group, illustrating his talks with moving pictures, and he arranged for people
from Florida Audubon headquarters to teach youth groups in the local
schools. In fact, one Limpkin
states that the growth of junior Audubon groups among the three towns –
Cocoa, Rockledge, and Merritt Island – was phenomenal from 1956 to 1957,
with Mr. Grame Howard serving as the chairman of the Junior Audubon Club
Committee.
But
before this point, the history of the Indian River Audubon Club took an
interesting turn. The club
disassociated itself from the Florida Audubon Society and in December, 1953, it
re-organized as a branch of the National Audubon Society. The officers went to a great deal of
trouble to amend the constitution and by-laws to conform to the general plans
and purposes of the N.A.S. Not
until January 13, 1966, did the Club officially become a chapter of the Florida
Audubon Society. One wonders why. The Limpkin, Vol. 1, No. 5,
states, “His (Mr. Farrar’s) retirement from the Florida Audubon Society in 1952
was one of the impelling reasons why our club decided to become a Branch of the
National Audubon.” One gathers
that the retirement of their esteemed Mr. Farrar was not entirely
voluntary. Furthermore, Mr. Grame
Howard went to New York City and saw to it that the Indian River Audubon Club
became affiliated with the National Audubon Society instead of the Florida
Audubon Society.
In
the early days, there were several exciting projects for which we owe a debt of
thanks: the establishment of
Hall’s Island as a wildlife sanctuary, the establishment of Cocoa as an
“Inviolate Bird Sanctuary” through the Cocoa City Council in 1956, and finally
the successful fight to keep an oil refinery from being built on north Merritt
Island. All of these projects have
their own story. The group heard
developers were going to invade Hall’s Island where a great number of pelicans,
herons, egrets, cormorants, spoonbills, and even flamingoes roosted in the
mangroves. Mr. Jim O’Neil, Foster
White, and Bill Hueston persuaded the state to designate Hall’s Island as a
bird sanctuary and later, following trips to Tallahassee by Helen and Allan
Cruikshank and Bill Hueston, it was dedicated to the county as long as it was
used in conformity with the state’s stipulations.
In
May, 1956, the club petitioned in addition to Cocoa, that Titusville,
Rockledge, Eau Gallie, and Melbourne be designated as bird sanctuaries; as a
result of cooperative efforts between the Federation of Garden Clubs and the
Indian River Audubon Society, South Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach later became
sanctuaries. Nearly a decade
later, in 1965, our society in cooperation with the Garden Clubs of Central
Florida go the legislature to declare Indian River Drive from Williams Point to
Bonneventure and official scenic drive, as well as Florida Tropical Trail on
Merritt Island. The club was
enlarging; membership increased from fifteen to seventy and then to ninety
under Mr. Hueston’s leadership.
Moreover,
the club was well-organized.
Programs for the coming year were enumerated well in advance in the
first Limpkin of the year, and understandably such all-time favorites as
“Helen Cruickshank’s Slides” or “Flowers and Ellis on Hawks” hit every
calendar. After joining the
National Audubon Society in 1953, the society began enjoying the Screen Tour
Programs each winter, the Audubon Journal, and support in their
conservation work. Shortly, after
joining National, one Limpkin notes:
We
were especially fortunate in having Allan D. Cruickshank and his wife, Helen,
move in upon us as Neighbors, and their cooperation and unselfish help at all
times has been an inspiration.
They are both nationally known for a wide variety of skills and
performances with the National Audubon Society – photography, writing,
lecturing, and conducting tours and camps. Their presence, as friends and members of our little local
Society, has put new life into it, and gratitude into all our hearts.
Helen
Cruickshank emerged, indeed, as a real fighter when the county commissioners
became enthusiastic about the prospect of an oil refinery on north Merritt
Island, just after Port Canaveral was opened. Although public opinion was against it, several of the commissioners
went to the west coast of the United States to see for themselves that there
would be no ill effects from shipping in crude oil and refining it. The plant officials showed them a
refinery that did truly create no smog problems: the combination of twelve foot waves braking in front of it and
a mountain range behind it created air currents that lifted and wafted away the
fumes. Through persistent
correspondence and personal contact with the Secretary of the Interior and
other politicians, Mrs. Cruickshank helped defeat this industrial move.
Apparently,
the field trips led by Foster White were the apex in the development of the
society. Heavily attended, they
embraced such areas as the St. John’s River marsh, the Humpback Bridge area,
North Banana River Drive across from Sykes Creek, and Sebastian Inlet. Old timers report that along Humpback
Bridge on Merritt Island there were many ducks, gallinules, and rails, and that
for years an eagle’s nest, inhabited by a great horned owl, attracted birders
to north Banana Drive. The tree
which held that nest was only recently cut down.
Pictures
of exotic birds were bought to monthly meetings, and members visited Myrtle
Maxwell’s home one fall to see painted buntings. (She was the first to get them, and friends learned she
attracted them with millet.) The
Thousand Islands area was then “an excellent and beautiful place for birding”
reminisced Foster White. Much of
it has since been filled for a golf course, high school, housing tract, and
sewage treatment plant.
Financially,
the Audubon Society in its inceptive days appears as frugally inclined as we
are today. One Limpkin lamented
that the rising costs of mimeographing prohibited publication of the Limpkin
and requested special donations from members who wished to continue receiving
it. Confided one member,
“Sometimes our treasury report was 27 cents, our bills were $3.00, and we had
to pass the hat.”
One
avenue for income was the Screen Tour Lectures, as they were then called. The series truly became remunerative
when Mr. F. J. Hopkinson began to devote his energies to it in 1957. If he were not the best birder in the
society, he was certainly the most astute business manager; he has a talent for
selecting dates and lecturers especially suitable for Brevard County residents. His eye for detail noted duplication of
a program for three years in the series.
“No one has commented on it to date, although some steady customers may
have noticed,” he wrote the lecture department scheduler.
“Any
money we have in the bank from the lecture series is because of Hoppy,” claims
Foster White. It seems his
technique was to mail each member tickets “which he expected you to sell.” The story goes that a few members
resented unsolicited tickets but that the majority of the members sold
them. A treasury record from April
4, 1963, reveals another reason for his making the series a lucrative
project: he advertised
tirelessly. The record reads,
“Posters, folder, mailing pieces:
$69.20. Other promotional
expenses incurred, $105.00.”
One
year he lowered the prices and complained of some difficulty with the
press. Yet for one date –
January 13, 1963 – combined box office take was $261.00. Over a period of 15 years, the Film
Lecture series has produced a profit of $2150.80 for the chapter. A financial history of the Wildlife
Film Lectures is as follows:
Year Expenses Receipts Profit
(Loss)
1954 $ 900.38 $ 891.80 $ (8.58)
1955 833.78 904.50 70.72
1956 763.73 810.73 47.00
1957 659.97 725.50 65.53
1958 492.65 488.00 (4.65)
1959 633.91 760.50 126.59
1960 667.66 786.25 118.59
1961 782.25 1028.00 245.75
1962 923.95 1160.50 236.55
1963 1023.15 1480.75 457.60
1964 1288.02 1348.75 60.73
1965 940.45 1359.95 419.50
1966 1041.51 1050.50 8.99
1967 1157.06 1144.74 (12.32)
1968 1131.75 1202.35 70.60
1969 1081.70 1329.90 $ 248.20
Total $ 2150.80
Average 134.42
Although
the Christmas Bird Count has not yielded any financial returns, it has brought
more national fame and publicity to the club than any other activity. In May, 1965, Representatives Rountree
and Pruitt introduced in the House of Representatives a resolution commending
all members of the Indian River Audubon Society for its record of leading the
nation for the tenth consecutive year in the Annual Bird County of the United
States and for setting a record high total count of two hundred four species of
birds in 1964, the highest total of species of birds at that time ever
registered on one occasion in the history of the United States. The counts began informally on December
27, 1951, when the Cruickshank’s, who were looking for retirement property,
visited Brevard County and joined Dr. Joseph C. Howell of the University of
Tennessee on a census. They turned
up a total of one hundred twenty-eight species and listed their find under
“Audubon,” since they were unaware of the local club’s existence. In 1952, their total of one hundred
thirty species appeared under “Cocoa”; that particular year Helen and Allan
went alone. On December 27, 1953,
Foster White, Samuel A. Harper, and Mr. and Mrs. W. O. Lewis of Virginia (who
still participate in the counts) joined the Cruickshank’s and Dr. Howell for a
tally of one hundred forty-seven species.
It was the first official Indian River Audubon Society Count. On December 27, 1954, they recorded one
hundred sixty-seven different kinds of birds.
The
box score of the I.R.A.S. teams for the championship years is:
Total
Number
Year of
Species
1955 184
1956 186
1957 193
1958 194
1959 196
1960 200
(46 expert observers combed almost every acre in the 15 mile-diameter circle)
1961 191
1962 197
1963 195
1964 204
1965 197
1966 206
(Cocoa and San Diego tie)
1967 197
(San Diego 209)
1968 203
(San Diego 217)
A total of two hundred
sixty-nine different species have been observed in this area during the
Christmas Count periods.
Reports
from various areas in the USA and Canada reach Allan Cruickshank, who is national
editor for the Christmas Bird Count issue of Audubon Field Notes. The Christmas Bird Counts were started
by the National Audubon Society in 1900.
That year, only 25 reports were submitted and only 27 people
participated. Since then, interest
has skyrocketed. In 1959, over 600
reports were submitted and over 10,000 people from all sections of the USA and
Canada participated. It is
interesting to note that the 1967 participants numbers over 15,000 and that the
report published were 839.
It
has not been possible to compile a comprehensive list of all chapter officers
since the organization of the club, inasmuch as the early records are
sketchy. In 1952, there must have
been an unofficial group of leaders, for one note from Sam Harper addressed to
Myrtle Maxwell contains a reluctant acceptance of the presidency for 1953. She, Peggy Howard, and Mrs. Emy Harper
appear to have been “The Nominating Committee” for the first officers:
1953 – 54
President Samuel
Harper
Vice-President Mrs.
Harold Hendry
Secretary/Treasurer Mrs.
Alice Duff
Notification
Secretary Mrs.
Jennie Punshon
1954 – 55
President Hunley
Abbott
Secretary/Treasurer Mrs.
Alice Duff
1955 – 56
President A.
H. Hastings
Secretary/Treasurer Mrs.
Alice Duff
1956 – 57
President William
F. Hueston
Vice-President Mrs.
Graeme Howard
Corresponding
Secretary James
A. O’Neil
Treasurer Foster
White
Historian Samuel
Harper
The
following season, 1957 – 58, Lon Ellis became assistant editor of the Limpkin,
Mrs. F. J. Hopkinson replaced Mrs. Howard as vice-president and Mrs. Malcom
Grimes was appointed recording secretary.
The other officers remained the same.
1959 – 60
President W.
F. Hueston
Vice-President G.
Chandler Young
Corresponding
Secretary Mrs.
H. C. Flowers
Recording
Secretary None
Treasurer Foster
White
Historian Samuel
Harper
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
1960 – 61
President W.
F. Hueston
Vice-President Theodore
Main
Secretary W.
H. Walters
Treasurer Foster
White
Historian Samuel
Harper
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
1961 – 62
Same
as for 1960 – 61
1962 – 63
President W.
F. Hueston
Vice-President Lloyd
Hornbostle
Secretary Mrs.
Louella Grimes
Treasurer Foster
White
Historian Samuel
Harper
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
1963 – 64
President W.
F. Hueston
Vice-President Lloyd
Hornbostle
Secretary Robert
E. Weldon
Treasurer Foster
White
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
1964 – 65
President W.
F. Hueston
Vice-President Lloyd
Hornbostle
Secretary Mrs.
Joyce Burnside
Treasurer William
H. Walters
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
1965-66
President
W.
F. Hueston
Vice-President
Ken
West
Secretary
Mrs.
Louise Gibbons
Treasurer
William
H. Walters
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
During
the latter part of 1965, the president, Mr. Hueston, suffered a stroke and
could no longer participate in chapter activities. Vice-President Ken West took
over as presiding officer of the club and continued in that capacity through
the 1966-67 season.
1966-67
President
Ken
West
Honorary
President W.F.
Hueston
Secretary
Mrs.
Louise Gibbons
Treasurer
William
H. Walters
Limpkin
Editor Lon
Ellis
1967-68
President
Karl
F. Eichhorn, Jr.
First
Vice-President Lon
Ellis
Second
Vice-President Arthur
Underwood
Secretary
Robert
Bush
Treasurer
Mrs.
Frances Stone
Limpkin
Editor Betty
Ann Eichhorn
1968-69
Same
as for 1967-68
1969-70
President
Karl
F. Eichhorn, Jr.
First
Vice-President Lon
Ellis
Second
Vice-President Hale
Wyle
Secretary
Mrs.
Mary Ash
Treasurer
Robert
H. Moody
Limpkin
Editor Betty
Ann Eichhorn
It
seems apropos that in the heart of the missile land, even bird watchers
utilize a digital computer to keep records. I.R.A.S. instituted a computerized
membership in January 1968; in fact, it is probable we are the only chapter in
the country to have such a system. It has been of considerable help as we
reached the goal of 50% membership increase during 1967-68. Net gain of 115
memberships were made in 1968-69, and we currently carry approximately 425
members on the rolls.
Last
summer, a season event and information folder – the first produced by
this chapter – was prepared. Shortly after that, I.R.A.S. shoulder
patches were designed and sold to members who wear them on field trips. Then in
May, 1969, the chapter filed incorporation papers with the secretary of state
to formalize our non-profit status in preparation for development of a nature
education center. An undeveloped tract of eighteen acres on Merritt Island was
recently leased from the owners and should be in use by members, guests, and
youth groups by this fall. Contributions to its fund now total $128.50.
That
progress is accompanied by leadership is implicit. One of the first actions of Karl Eichhorn as president was
to appoint a board of directors composed of twelve senior members of the
organization, plus eight standing committees appointed in accordance with
F.A.S. by-laws. During the summer of 1967, a set of chapter by-laws modeled
after those of the F.A.S. was prepared and adopted by the members at the
November business meeting.
Perhaps,
the most significant contributions by the I.R.A.S. in 1968-69 have been in the
field of conservation. Many letters and public speeches were produced to
protect estuarine resources in Brevard County and throughout the state. Efforts
reached a climax at the special Brevard County Commission Hearing concerning a
massive fill in the Indian River proposed by Ed Ball. Sixteen members spoke
against the proposal and several created posters which were photographed and
published by the newspapers. Militancy seemed on the rise, for members shortly
picketed a dredge filling in a large section of Sykes Creek for a shopping
center.
Now
the hard core members of the Indian River Audubon Society are actively planning
for the annual convention of the Florida Audubon Society, which we will host at
the Ramada Inn in Cocoa Beach, Florida, January 1970.
“Younger
blood is running the organization now,” mused one senior citizen. “And that’s
good. The older people were getting too old to meet committee responsibilities
or even go on occasional field trips.” Yet the following quote from a 1959 Limpkin
during the heat of political campaigning makes these senior citizens seem not
so distant, or detached, or decrepit:
I
would like to mention for those who were not here that the society waged the
battle to save our streams and rivers from erroneous bulkheading. This
bulkheading could have destroyed our river shorelines and valuable marshlands
on which our wild life depends. Not to mention the beauty that would be lost.
So thanks to Helen and Allan Cruickshank, Mrs. W. T. Stewart, Foster and Lois
White, Lon Ellis, and all the many others who diligently fought to preserve
those natural beauties and resources which a few self-minded people were trying
to destroy. We must always keep our minds eye to the future. Think when
we elect our candidates to public office and find out if they will conserve the
people’s natural wealth instead of squandering it which has been the record of
the past.
