The program at the DOAS Annual Charter Dinner will feature Adirondacks Speaker John Thaxton on Friday, October 18, 2013 at Brooks Roost, Oneonta.

John Thaxton has written five books, including New York’s 50 Best Places to Go Birding In and Around the Big Apple (City & Company) and Natural Attractions: A Select Guide to Experiencing North America’s Unique Wildlife and Wonders (Warner Books) as well as feature articles for periodicals such as Birder’s World, Conde Nast’s Traveler, Adirondack Life, Nature Photographer and The New York Times. For the past seven years John has written the Birdwatch column for Adirondack Explorer. John has lectured about birds at The American Museum of Natural History, Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center, Adirondack Interpretive Center, Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Adirondack Loj, Vermont Field and Forest Society and the New Jersey Sierra Club.  He serves on the board of Northern New York Audubon and edits their newsletter. He served as president of Happiness Is Camping: For Children With Cancer, and remains on the board.

John will be accompanied by his wife Pat Thaxton. Pat served as Laboratory Director at Long Island College Hospital in New York City and as the Laboratory Manager at Elizabethtown Community Hospital in the Adirondacks. She served as President of the High Peaks Audubon Society and currently serves on the board of Northern New York Audubon and as chairperson of its Membership and Finance Committees. John and Pat are both Licensed New York State Guides and Adirondack 46ers, fully insured and rarin’ to go. They are members of the American Birding Association and the New York State Ornithological Association. For The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State, 2000-2005 (Cornell University Press) John & Pat covered 25 atlasing blocks, which included most of the Adirondack High Peaks. For the past ten years they have led trips for the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center’s Great Adirondack Birding Celebration and for eight years have led trips for Hamilton
County’s Adirondack Birding Festival.

To attend the 45th Annual Charter Dinner on Friday October 18, 2013 at the Brooks Roost Banquet Room. We will gather at 6 PM for a social time before the buffet at 6:30 PM.  The buffet cost is $20 per person, and $15 for children under twelve. Reservations must be made by October 14th by calling 607-563-2924 or mailing a check payable to DOAS, to: Julia Gregory, PO Box 641, Unadilla, New York 13849-0641.

To attend the program only, please arrive at 7:20pm for seating.