EVENT

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society's November meeting will feature a presentation about life in Churchill, Manitoba, where people and polar bears coexist.

The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. November 12 at the

The program is free and anyone is welcome to attend.

The speaker will be Carolyn Rushizky, who has led interpretative polar bear excursions in Churchill, and who worked with the late Dr. Malcolm Ramsay, a leading Polar Bear biologist.

Carolyn has also served as a ranger at Yellowstone National Park and Katmai National Park in Alaska, which has the largest concentration of brown bears in the country. While at Katmai, she participated in an ongoing study that tracked bear populations and behavior.

She has also led trips for the National Wildlife Federation.

For more information contact Peter Smith at 304-876-1139 or pvsmith@frontiernet.net.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and is a member of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and the Combined Federal Campaign.

The event will be held from 1:00-4:00 p.m. November 15 at an innovative "green" home completed last year near Whiting's Neck in Berkeley County. The home is one of the first in the area to use straw bales for insulation, and it has many other cutting-edge green features as well.

The event is being planned in lieu of PVAS's usual fall arts festival, which is not being held this year. All proceeds will be used to support the Society's education programs for local children.

In addition to tours of the home, the event will feature a wine tasting by Grapes and Grains Gourmet of Shepherdstown. The tasting will explore a variety of reasonably priced holiday wines including some that are organic. Light food appropriate for pairing with the wines will also be provided. Non-alcoholic beverages will be available as well, and musical entertainment will provide background.

There will also be a closed-bid silent auction featuring a wine-lovers basket, gourmet food basket, a "green goods" basket and much more.

Tickets to the event are required, and space will be limited.

Basic tickets are $45 per person. Those who pay $150 for two people will be recognized as Donors, those who pay $200 for two will be recognized as Patrons, and those who pay $250 or more for two will be recognized as Supporters.

All ticket costs will be fully tax deductible.

To reserve tickets, please call 304-676-3397 or e-mail PVASmail@aol.com and provide your name, address, and phone number.

The home that is the centerpiece of the event was built by PVAS's Executive Director, Kristin Alexander, and her husband, Jeff Feldman, a green building consultant.

The home utilizes a post and beam framework, with locally grown bales of straw as infill. The exterior is covered with a lime plaster that is extremely strong and fully weatherproof, and the interior is finished with an earthen plaster.

PVAS is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and a member of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and the Combined Federal Campaign.