[TN-Bird] J.B. Owen Memorial Dedicated

From: "Charles P. Nicholson" <cpnichol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "TN-Bird Listserve" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 18:35:30 -0500
On Tuesday, December 16, Knoxville Major Victor Ashe dedicated a
memorial plaque and for J. B. Owen at Sharps Ridge and named an overlook
there in his honor.  About 20 Knoxville TOS members were present at the
dedication.  Following is the text of an article about the event from
the Knoxville News-Sentinel.  The article is at
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_2510789,00
.html; the version on the paper's web site includes a photo of Frances
Owen and Major Ashe.
Chuck Nicholson
Norris, TN

Birder Owen's favorite spot now carries his name 
By SCOTT BARKER, barkers@xxxxxxxxx
December 17, 2003 
City officials honored the late News Sentinel columnist and bird lover
J.B. Owen on Tuesday by naming an overlook at Sharps Ridge Memorial Park
in his honor. 
Owen, a photo composition operator by trade, began writing "About Birds"
for the old Knoxville Journal in 1960. After the paper closed, the News
Sentinel welcomed him into its nest to write "Nature Scrapbook," which
he wrote until his death in 2001 at age 85. 
Another avid outdoorsman, Mayor Victor Ashe, praised Owen for inspiring
many East Tennesseans to look closely at the splendors of the natural
world. 
"He did as much to educate the readers of the Journal, and later the
News Sentinel, than perhaps any other person in this region," Ashe said.

Owen discovered the pleasures of bird watching on Sharps Ridge years
ago. Though he traveled from Canada to the Caribbean to watch birds,
Owen would stack Sharps Ridge up against any locale he encountered. 
"It became his favorite place to bird in Knoxville," recalled his widow,
Frances Owen. "This was his spot." 
Sharps Ridge, in North Knoxville, lies parallel to a popular migratory
path for songbirds, making it a popular place in the springtime to look
for warblers, vireos and thrushes. 
"People can often see 20 species of warbler a day here," said Charlie
Muise, president of the local chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological
Society. 
Mark Campen, a birder who keeps a pet turtle on his dashboard and a pair
of binoculars under the seat of his pickup, said birds of prey often
show off on the thermals that swirl up the slope from the city below. 
"You can see migrating kettles of hawks," Campen said. "You can see
groups of them following the ridge lines." 
Jim Campbell, a four-decade friend, credited Owen with inspiring him and
several generations of East Tennessee birders. 
"He had such a following among his readers, they would flock to him,"
Campbell said. 
Ashe and other city officials also unveiled a new map for the overlook
that shows the various peaks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- from Mt. LeConte to the southeast to Parsons Bald to the southwest -
that are visible from the site. 
Such a sign is appropriate, Campbell said, for an overlook named for
Owen. 
"He and I would get out here in the morning and try to name those
peaks," Campbell said. Naming the overlook after Owen, Campbell
continued, "couldn't have been more appropriate." 



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[TN-Bird] J.B. Owen Memorial Dedicated

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