WE'RE CELEBRITIES! (well sort of)......

A few posts ago I mentioned that our property became a Certified Wildlife Habitat. I had found out about it from Manuela over at The Feathered Nest. When you receive your certificate you also get a blanket press release, you just fill in your name, address, etc. I thought; "What the heck" so I filled it out and fax it in to the local papers.......

THREE out of the four papers I sent the fax in to called me, and two actually interviewed me (us) in person! I was flabbergasted (there's a word we don't use enough but that's a post for another day..) and so excited.

One of the reporters came over to our house and took pictures of us, our garden, our birdhouses, us in front of our birdhouses and for some strange reason he though we were going to get a shot of birds landing on our shoulders and stuff like we were in a Disney cartoon, but we appeased him and sat and sat and sat waiting for birds to land on us. At one point I was holding seed in my hand looking like the Bird Girl of Savannah. He realized he wasn't going to get any "action" shots and I promised him I would send him the pictures of the baby robins that hatched in my hanging fuchsia this summer. He was very interested in the qualification process of becoming a certified backyard wildlife habitat and enjoyed walking around our property while I explained the four areas of importance to qualify. His article was personal yet factual and was wonderful if someone was wondering if they could do something like this in their back yards. This is the link to Andrew Seder's article.

The second paper asked to come interview me while I was in my office, since the two places are close to one another. The reporter was a very nice woman; Tammy Compton, she was warm and friendly. She came with a tape recorder, I felt a bit nervous about that but since I have to deal with the media quite a bit with my job I was able to compose myself long enough to get through it. When Tammy began asking questions she became interested in my beekeeping and asked more about that and why I kept bees as a hobby. When I explained that my Grandpa was a beekeeper, she became interested in the personal side of the story. When the article came out I was really overwhelmed that she chose to put that personal spin on it; not only talking about the backyard habitat, but about my Grandpa as well. I really enjoyed Tammy and genuinely liked her, we'll probably get together for coffee after this. If you'd like to read Tammy Compton's article, click on her name.

The third paper called me while I was at the office, this was the largest paper and actually I was very surprised that they called at all. The reporter was very factual and asked a few basic questions. What I enjoyed about her article was that she contacted the National Wildlife Federation and asked questions about the Backyard Habitat program. If you would like to read Megan Reiter's article, click on her name.

The whole experience was really exciting, who would have thunk? Just by Manuela passing that information on I became certified and now, hopefully, more people will become interested in becoming a certified backyard wildlife habitat.

Thanks again Manuela! :)

*muah*