We're happy to bring you some unusually good news this issue. First is the probable re-discovery of an American bird thought to be extinct for over 50 years. We're also pleased to bring you the exclusive story of an unusual individual. A modest man, who shuns photos and publicity, with an unusual hobby. He builds bikes for handicapped children and takes no payment for it. He is, in our opinion, an unsung American hero!
Thanks, as always, for the kind words and encouragement,
Dorothy
PENSACOLA, Florida (AP) -- After spending months in remote northwest Florida swamps searching for the ivory-billed woodpecker, researchers say they have seen and heard the rare bird once believed to be extinct.
But Auburn University ornithologists, who published their findings in Canada's Avian Conservation and Ecology journal online Tuesday, failed to capture a picture of the large woodpecker, which makes a distinct double rapping sound.
That lack of evidence means doubt about the bird's return remains.
The bird was thought to be extinct until 2004 when Cornell University researchers released recordings and an inconclusive grainy video after searching for it in the swamps of eastern Arkansas. The last confirmed ivory-billed sighting was in the Singer tract, in Louisiana, in 1944.
Auburn ornithologist Geoffrey Hill headed the four-month Florida search that ended in April. He said his team would return to the Choctawhatchee River basin sometime around November with better equipment to try to get photographs.
"On 41 occasions different team members have seen the bird. We heard that double knock, it's a sound the ivory-billed makes that no other bird makes, but we didn't get a clear video of the bird," Hill said.
"I think people should be skeptical. I think they should demand clear photographic evidence. I might start to get skeptical myself thinking, 'I've seen this bird,' but how could I have seen a bird that it is impossible to photograph," he said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is working with the federal government and some private agencies to provide additional funding for Hill's team, agency spokesman Willie Puz said. Puz said funding is in the early stages and he didn't know how much the researchers would receive.
Hill's five-member team from Auburn, Alabama, conducted its search on a $10,000 budget. Hill said the extra funding should help them deliver the conclusive evidence the world is demanding.
"The ultimate prize is finding pairs visiting roost holes and making babies, that would be the holy grail," said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell lab, which consulted with the Auburn team. "Absent that, the intervening step is to get a photograph that allows everyone else to see the evidence and get on board."
Florida officials praised the early evidence.
"This will be fantastic if we can confirm the woodpeckers are there," conservation commission Chairman Rodney Barreto said in a statement. "Florida is the only state besides Arkansas to come close to confirmation in roughly 40 years."
Columbia, KY -- Story by Dorothy Curtis
On any given day, on any street, there are children playing. Catch, hide and seek, or riding bikes. From the smallest plastic three wheeler to a twenty-something speed racer. They’re everywhere. And almost every kid has one. But for some, a bike is out of reach. Paraplegia, blindness or other disabilities make it hard for them to operate a bike. One man is trying to change that.
Kendall Harvey is a tall, quiet man who lives in Columbia, Kentucky, with his wife, Cecil. The couple has four grown children, and several grandchildren, some living in the area, and some out of state. Formerly a construction worker, an injury forced his retirement six years ago.
Harvey began tinkering with motors and wheels, building himself a combination Harley-Davidson/Volkswagon contraption that he used to travel with his wife to the mountains. One day, while having a meal at a local restaurant, he met another dad out with his small son, who was disabled. He listened as the boy expressed a wish for a bike, like his friends.
Harvey went home and began tinkering, and soon he had built a motorized bike. Since then, Harvey has made the dreams of 140 other children come true. Thanks in part to a donation from Walmart, the wall of Harvey’s garage is filled with dozens of bicycles of all sizes, just waiting for him to rebuild them for a child.
He has built motorized bikes for children in Kentucky and Tennessee. He hears about them through friends and relatives; kids who can’t see or use their arms and legs because of injury or birth. Harvey meets the kids, talks to them about the kind of bike they’d like, then takes their measurements. He picks out a suitable bike, and adds extra wheels, a sidecar for dolls, or a small radio. Within a few weeks, he has made a child’s dream come true.
They are independent - they have a bike. Guided by shoulders, feet, or even a nose, they are transformed into a mobile, independent person. Children of all ages use Harvey’s bikes. Several are in their twenties or even thirties physically, but mentally they are five, six or seven. The price Harvey charges for all this is the pictures he has of them when they receive their machines, the hugs and kisses they give him, and the joy he sees on their faces as they manipulate the bike all by themselves. For him, that is enough.
