By: Peggy Tolboom
One of my favorite parts of being a TXMN is making new friends and sharing experiences together. I’ve known Judy and Paul Warner mostly from church and living in Dublin. They have five grown children and five grandkids. The Warner’s got information about TXMN at a Dublin Market Day last fall, and I encouraged them to join this year’s training class. I knew about the Warner’s carpentry and plumbing experience because they had remodeled and updated Paul’s family home, so I told them about the need for Texas Bluebird Society nest boxes. Now in addition to being master naturalists, Judy and Paul became certified nest box builders for the Texas Bluebird Society (TBS).
To be certified, Dee and Stan Myers of Montgomery, TX, north of Houston, drove four hours, one way, to provide training. The Myers were also checking to be sure the Warner’s had the correct tools, enough space to receive an order of cedar, and space to store 100 nestboxes. On Saturday, August 26, the whole morning was devoted to this task. During that morning, Paul and Judy made two nest boxes with the guidance of the Myers. For their homework, they finished two more nest boxes and sent photos to Dee Myers. Arriving soon will be a load of cedar to be made into boxes, hopefully in time for me, Peggy Tolboom, to take to the vendor table at the Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting in October.
Both Judy and Paul are retired science teachers from Dublin ISD. Judy taught intermediate grades for thirty years. Paul taught in the middle school for fifteen years. Before teaching, Paul had been a plumber in a fifth generation plumbing company. He developed back troubles resulting in surgery, so he decided to go to Tarleton University to become a teacher. Paul has been part of the Dublin Volunteer Fire Department since 1978 and currently serves as the fire chief. Judy has been leading the music ministry at our church, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, for as long as I have known her, for over 40 years. She taught herself to play the guitar, and after retiring has taken piano lessons from my daughter, Suzanna, and her daughter, Sarah.
To learn more, visit the Texas Bluebird Society website or contact Peggy Tolboom.
Photos by Peggy Tolboom
Photo courtesy of: https://homepage2.texasbluebirdsociety.org/documents/20080331-basics_revised.pdf
